Description: Das Projekt "Kilimanjaro Glaciers (East Africa)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Innsbruck, Institut für Geographie durchgeführt. The Tropical Glaciology Group's research on Kilimanjaro started in 2002 and is in progress. Central aspects of our research plan are: 1) Development of the working hypothesis: From a synopsis of (i) proxy data indicating changes in East African climate since ca. 1850, (ii) 20th century instrumental data (temperature and precipitation), and (iii) the observations and interpretations made during two periods of fieldwork (June 2001 and July 2002) a scenario of modern glacier retreat on Kibo is reconstructed. This scenario offers the working hypothesis for our project. 2) Impact of local climate on the glaciers: This goal involves micrometeorological measurements on the glaciers, and the application of collected data to full glacier energy and mass balance models. These models quantify the impact of local climate on a glacier, based on pure physical system knowledge. Our models are validated by measured mass loss and surface temperature. 3) Latest Extent of the Kilimanjaro glaciers: Here, a satellite image was analyzed to derive the surface area and spatial distribution of glaciers on Kilimanjaro in February 2003. To validate this approach, an aerial flight was conducted in July 2005. 4) Linking local climate to large-scale circulation: As glacier behavior on Kilimanjaro, a totally free-standing mountain, is likely to reflect changes in larger-scale climate, this goal explores the large-scale climate mechanisms driving local Kilimanjaro climate. Well known large-scale forcings of east African climate are sea surface temperature variations in the Pacific and, more important, in the Indian Ocean. 5) Regional modification of large-scale circulation: The regional precipitation response in East Africa due to large-scale forcing is not adequately resolved in a global climate model as used in 4). Thus, mesoscale model experiments with the numerical atmospheric model RAMS will be conducted within this goal. They are thought to reveal the modification of atmospheric flow by the Kilimanjaro massif on a regional scale. 6) Practical aspects: Based on micro- and mesoscale results, (i) how much water is provided by glaciers, (ii) providing future projections of glacier behavior as basis for economic and societal studies (practical part), e.g., for studies on the impact of vanishing glaciers on Kibo's touristic appeal, and (iii) which impact does deforestation on the Kilimanjaro slopes have on summit climate? Referring to item 2), two new automatic weather stations have been installed in February 2005. They complete a station operated by Massachusetts University on the surface of the Northern Icefield since 2000.
Types:
SupportProgram
Origin: /Bund/UBA/UFORDAT
Tags: Entwaldung ? Innsbruck ? Meerestemperatur ? Massachusetts ? Satellitenbild ? Brunnen ? Anfechtung ? Bodentemperatur ? Fällungsreaktion ? Glaziologie ? Gletscher ? Szenario ? Temperatur ? Ostafrika ? Gletscherschwund ? Globales Klimamodell ? Wirkungsmodell ? Atmosphärenmodell ? Daten ? Klimamodell ? Meeresoberfläche ? Mesoklima ? Messdaten ? Studie ? Tropengebiet ? Wasser ? Verbreitungsgebiet ? Schaden ? Wirkung ? Afrika ? Messung ? Niederschlag ? Gebirge ? Zeitraum ? Änderung ? Plan ? Indischer Ozean ? Pazifischer Ozean ? Forschung ? Wetter ? Klima ? Klimadaten ? Arbeit ? Dauer ? Fortschritt ? Gruppe ? Projekt ? Aspekt ? bewerten ? regional ? wichtig ? Fluss [Bewegung] ?
License: cc-by-nc-nd/4.0
Language: Deutsch
Time ranges: 2000-01-01 - 2024-11-29
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