Wegener Center

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Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change
Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change
Wegener Center
Category: research Institute
Carrier: University of Graz
Consist: since 2005
Facility location: Graz
Type of research: Basic research , applied research
Subjects: Natural sciences , social sciences , economics
Areas of expertise: Geophysics , climate physics, meteorology , economics , geography , regional research
Management: Andrea Steiner
Employee: 60, of which 30% women
Homepage: www.wegcenter.at

The Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change (WEGC) is an institute of the University of Graz in Austria. It deals with both the physically oriented and the socio-economic aspects of climate change and global change. Since its foundation in 2005 - as a temporary center, which then received permanent institute status from 2013 - the institute has developed steadily and is now home to around sixty researchers at all levels, from young researchers to professors who work in areas such as geo and climate physics, Meteorology , economics , geography and regional research work under one roof. It was founded by Gottfried Kirchengast . The center is named after the meteorologist as well as polar and geoscientist Alfred Wegener , the founder of the chair for geophysics at the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz .

history

Wegener Center 2006

Foundation as a center

Researchers from several institutes at the University of Graz (UniGraz) have shown an increasing number of different climate-related activities since the 1990s. Building on this, the University of Graz, with initial support from the City of Graz, set up the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change (Wegener Center) as an interdisciplinary, internationally oriented research center. This took place on the basis of an international assessment commissioned by the rectorate in 2004. The official establishment followed on March 1, 2005.

Wegener Center 2012

From the center to the institute

By resolution of the Rectorate of the University of Graz on November 8, 2012, the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change was established as a university institute with effect from November 1, 2013 in a new long-term form. Almost at the same time, the Wegener Center moved from its original location at Leechgasse 25 to a larger building at Brandhofgasse 5.

mission

The Wegener Center combines climate , environmental , economic and social research. The research activities contribute to the understanding of climate variability and climate change - on a global, regional and local level - as well as of socio-economic influencing factors and consequences of climate change and global change. For this purpose, the physical climate system and socio-economic processes are observed, analyzed and modeled. In the promotion of young talent and teaching, the interdisciplinary environmental systems science and its participating departments such as physics and economics are strengthened .

Research groups

Summer temperature of the atmosphere in 2005 ( ARSCliSys research group )

Atmospheric remote sensing and climate system (ARSCliSys)

The research group ARSCliSys researches modern satellite-based methods for remote sensing of the atmosphere and the climate system as well as new ground-based methods with very high resolution. Among other things, it deals with the questions of how strong global warming is today, how it will develop in the future and how the Alpine region , Austria and Styria will be affected by it.

A particularly suitable method for the worldwide view to answer such questions is the method of radio occultation . Satellite and soil data are used together with climate model simulations to study climate variability, climate trends, and weather and climate extremes. The focus is on global climate change and building bridges to regional and local climate and environmental change in the Alpine region . The WegenerNet is a pioneering experiment by the group in the specific Alpine region . ARSCliSys cooperates closely with ReLoClim as well as with other groups and partner institutes at the University of Graz and worldwide.

Climate model data with different resolutions ( ReLoClim research group )

Regional and local climate modeling and analysis (ReLoClim)

ReLoClim researches the processes that determine regional climate change, especially the occurrence of extreme events such as heavy rainfall or droughts. The research group deals, among other things, with the questions of how much the climate has already changed, whether climate change has already influenced the most recent extreme events and what changes we expect in the future. It also examines how extreme events can look in a warmer climate, how good the models used are and how trustworthy simulations can be.

ReLoClim works on regional and local climate modeling, the analysis of regional climate processes and at the interface to climate impact research. The group mainly examines the climate of Europe and the European Alps , case studies focus primarily on Austria and Styria . The research is based on climate simulations of the 21st century, sensitivity studies with climate models, investigations and simulations of individual events, as well as the analysis of existing climate simulations with the inclusion of observational data.

Economics of Climate and Environmental Change (EconClim)

The research group EconClim deals with the socio-economic aspects of climate and environmental change, in particular how humans as individuals and society as a whole contribute to global climate and environmental change and how they are affected by it. One focus is on options for action, on the one hand to adapt to global climate and environmental change, and on the other hand to mitigate them. The geographical focus of the analyzes is on Austria, taking into account the European and global levels. Within the research topics of the group, the entire value chain is covered, from basic research through basic application research to applied (policy-oriented) research.

Climate processes and environmental meteorology (ClimEMet)

The research activities of the ClimEMet working group aim to expand our understanding of the internal variability of the climate system and the influence of individual / combined forcing on atmospheric chemistry and dynamics as well as climate variables at ground level. A detailed understanding of the natural and external components is crucial, as external forcing can contribute to changes in the internal variability of the climate system. The research of the ClimEMet group covers a large number of spatial and temporal scales and spans from the stratosphere to the troposphere to the planetary boundary layer . A special topic is the uncertainty of future prognoses of extreme events. The declared aim here is to make robust statements about how changes in individual forcing will affect the atmosphere and the climate system in the course of the 21st century.

Joint research focus on hydrological extremes in a changing climate (HydExClim)

The research groups of the Wegener Center have a common research focus with regard to regional hydrological extremes . In particular, changes in extreme hydrological events such as heavy precipitation, floods and drought can have negative effects on various sectors such as energy, public infrastructure, households and agriculture. These effects also depend heavily on other anthropogenic influences such as land use and changes in water management . Research topics in this context are geographically concentrated mainly on Austria and Styria as focus and model regions for integrated research. The work on this topic includes cross-group projects of the research groups at the Wegener Center together with external partners and the actors concerned.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.wegcenter.at , website of the Wegener Center. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  2. ↑ https://wegcenter.uni-graz.at/de/wegener-center/prsentation/geschichte/
  3. ↑ https://wegcenter.uni-graz.at/de/wegener-center/prsentation/mission/
  4. ↑ a b c d e https://wegcenter.uni-graz.at/de/forschen/

Coordinates: 47 ° 4 ′ 29 ″  N , 15 ° 26 ′ 51 ″  E