ECOMONT: Ecological effects of land use changes on european terrestrial mountain ecosystems. Research on ecosystemic processes in the alpine area, the Spanish Pyrenees and the Scottish Highlands.

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 95.0383-3

Key words (English)

Land use change; climatic change; numerical modelling of mesoscale atmospheric transport processes

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: ENV4-CT95-0179

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 4. Frame Research Programme - 3.1 Environment

Short description (English)

See abstract

Partners and International Organizations (English)

Universität Innsbruck (A), Institute of Terrestrial Ecology Banchory (GB), Institut für Terrestrische Ökosystemforschung Bayreuth (D), Europäische Akademie Bozen (I), Centro di Ecologia Monte Bondone (I), Instituto Pirenaico de Ecologia Jaca/Huesac (E), IUL Bern-Liebefeld (CH), PSI Villigen (CH)

Abstract (English)

We have modelled wind patterns on 3 different scales
n Scale a: Interactions Alps - Foreland
n Scale b: Inner Alpine circulations
n Scale g: Circulation around Monte Bondone experimental site
and got the following main results:
The partitioning of the energy flux into sensible and latent heat is the key factor that determines the pattern of the surface heating as one of the driving forces of the atmospheric circulation. However the parametrizations for the evaporation at ground are very sensitive.
A second sensitive factor is the spatial resolution of the computational domain. When coarsening the grid, the total amount of the surface area decreases as the slope elevations as well. As a consequence the differential heating of the landscape is smeared and small scale circulations can not develop.
For the SOP (special observing periodes) the results of the numerical weather prediction model of the Swiss Met-Office could be used. Evaluating wind, temperature and moisture fields revealed that the Bondone area was under the influence of a pronounced advection of warm air during that time. Some tens of meters over ground the air air was more charcterized by the advected properties than by the ground properties.
This warm air advection during the SOP (with flight measurements) produced a rather complicated structure over the Bondone experimental site with reversed energy fluxes close to the surface layer. Some results with a simplified 3-dimensional air flow model in comparision with the the air measuremnet are reported in the ECOMONT-Volume I. The calculations of the budgets (air mass, atmospheric constituents) are still under work. They have to incorporate the full 3-dimensional patterns of windfield and tubulence. The results will be published in a scientific journal.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 95.0383-3