Consortium > MPI-M

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

Organization short name: MPI-M
acronym:
web page: www.mpimet.mpg.de

Description of the organization

The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology is a member of the Max Planck Society. It was founded in 1975 as an institute dedicated to fundamental climate research. The overall mission of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology is to understand how physical, chemical, and biological processes, as well as human behaviour, contribute to the dynamics of the Earth system, and specifically how they relate to global and regional climate changes. MPI-M is committed to informing decision-makers and the public on questions related to Climate Change and Global Change. MPI-M is managing the International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling (IMPRS).

Expertise and experience of the organization

MPI-M is known for its experience in global and regional climate modelling. Since the first days of the IPCC process it has taken part in the consortium simulations. MPI-M has made major contributions to the simulation and analysis of a human influence on climate in detection and attribution studies. Among the tools used are advanced numerical models that simulate the behaviour of the atmosphere, the ocean, the cryosphere and the biosphere, and the interactions among these different components of the Earth system. MPI-M has developed a comprehensive Earth system model (ESM) in which the physical aspects of the climate system are coupled with biogeochemical cycles, and makes this model available to the scientific community in Europe and elsewhere.

Selected reference projects

  • ENSEMBLES - Develop an ensemble prediction system for climate change using global and regional Earth System model
  • CLAVIER – Climate change and Variability: Impact on Central and Eastern Europe
  • DEKLIM -KLIMEX – Zusammenhänge und Rückkopplungen von Biosphäre und Klima: Variationen auf Zeitskalen von Jahrhunderten und zukünftige Änderungen

Key scientific / technical personnel

Dr. Daniela Jacob: Meteorologist. Numerical mesoscale models for the atmosphere. Physical parameterizations for scale dependent mesoscale phenomena , investigations of flow simulations on the scale of a few kilometers up to a few thousand kilometers. Leader of the regional climate modelling activities at the MPI-M.
Dr. Christian Reick is expert on terrestrial vegetation. He is heading the Global Vegetation Modelling Group at MPI-M and is founder of the GINKGO network for climate and global ecosystem modelling.

Responsibilities in CARBO-Extreme

  • Model-data integration (WP5)
  • Model experiments and scenario analysis (WP6)
  • Carbon vulnerability synthesis (WP7)

Selected recent relevant publications

Raddatz T, Reick C, Knorr W, Kattge J, Roeckner E, Schnur R, Schnitzler K-G, Wetzel P, Jungclaus J, Will the tropical land biosphere dominate the climate-carbon cycle feedback during the twenty-first century? Climate Dynamics, 29, 565-574, 2007. link to publisher

Jacob D, Bärring L, Christensen OB, Christensen JH, Hagemann S, Hirschi M, Kjellström E, Lenderink G, Rockel B, Schär C, Seneviratne SI, Somot S, van Ulden A, van den Hurk B, An inter-comparison of regional climate models for Europe: Design of the experiments and model performance. Climatic Change 81, 31-52, 2007. link to publisher

Lorenz P, Jacob D, Influence of regional scale information on the global circulation: A two-way nesting climate simulation, Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L18706, 2005. link to publisher