Inhaltspezifische Aktionen

CROP

Impacts of Compound Weather Extremes on Crops in Germany: Present and Future | duration: 03/2020 - 02/2023
  • Context
CROP models the impact of weather extremes and compound events on crops using a wide range of methods at the subnational/county level in Germany. An innovative integrated approach to better understand and characterize the impacts of these events is developed with the aim to apply those to near-term future conditions and explore the creation of agroclimatic services. CROP generates new high-resolution data sets for crop yield, crop phenological and agricultural phases and a wide range of index and model-based data sets. Further hybrid approaches for bias-correction and downscaling of seasonal forecast and model simulations to relevant spatio-temporal scales for the assessment of extreme weather impacts on crop yield in terms of variability and losses are elaborated.
CROP is part of the climXtreme Network which consists of several research institutions in Germany with the common goal to advance research on extreme events in the context of climate change.
  • Milestones
  • Derivation of compound extremes from statistical models related to the ten most important (most cultivated) crops at subnational scale in Germany
  • Validation of process-based crop models (e.g. WOFOST) for different irrigated and rainfed crops
  • Combination of statistical and process-based crop models to improve understanding of compound events and weather extremes on yield variability & losses in Germany
  • Bias-correction and downscaling of meteorological variables from seasonal climate predictions and projections to assess statistical significance of future extreme weather impacts on crop yield
Information on the impact of weather and climate on crops is a central component of impact assessments at the agriculture, food safety and security and the economic sector under climate change. A profound understanding of how extreme and compound events influence crop production sets the basis for the development of an integrated seasonal crop yield forecasting system, an important and accurate tool to inform stakeholders and end-users. In CROP we collect yield data on productivity, cultivated area and absolute harvest amounts to create a unique yield data base, that covers a climate relevant time range of more than 30 years. We further provide the software tools, plugins, to assess heat and water stress on crops, based on phenological and agricultural data. The results will be of relevance for climate change impact assessments, to guide extension services and for policy makers to reduce market volatility, avoid price spikes and support crop breeding efforts. The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, regional agricultural agencies and institutions/researchers in phenological applications and modelling are among the relevant stakeholders and end-users interested in the project results.
  • climXtreme

CROP is embedded into Module C “Impacts of extreme weather and climate events on natural and socio-economic systems” and the coordinated research plan of the BMBF programme “climXtreme” (Klimawandel und Extremereignisse). The expected overall outcome of ClimXtreme is the generation of climate knowledge required for an improved assessment of extreme weather events that produce impact relevant events in Central Europe during the last century as well as for the future. This will be done in four Modules concentrating on Physical Processes (Module A), Statistical Aspects (Module B), the Impact View (Module C) and observational and simulation data sets (Module D). Thereby, Module C focusses on meteorological extreme events producing impacts on the natural and socio-economic systems.

 

Within Module C, CROP is well connected with other projects:

CROP and EXIMO (extreme climate impacts interacting across sectors) both investigate the impacts of climate extremes on agriculture.

Furthermore, CROP works with precipitation anomalies and exchanges information on the spatio-temporal characteristics of the underlying physical processes with FLOOD (linking extremes, large-scale river floods and their impact in central Europe to climate and weather mechanisms), CARLOFF (convective atmospheres: linking radar-based event descriptors and losses from flash floods) and LASLI (landslides in a changing climate).

CROP further collaborates with many other climXtreme subgroups on the topic specific groups “Compound events in Germany” and “Heatwaves and droughts”.

For more information about “ClimXtreme” and the variety of projects within Modules A to D, please visit the programme website: https://climxtreme.net/
  • Principal Investigators
Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU)
Department of Geography
Justus Liebig University, Giessen (Germany)


 
  • Academic Staff

Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU)
Justus Liebig University, Giessen (Germany)
Post Doc
Director of Science and Innovation and Chief Scientist of the World Meterological Organization, Switzerland

 

  • Participating Institutions (Module C)
Freie Universität Berlin (FUB), Institute for Meteorology
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (ALU)
Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD)
Deutsches Geo-Forschungs-Zentrum (GFZ)
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Technische Universität Dresden
Universität Potsdam
Universität Vechta


  • Acknowledgement
This project is generously funded as part of the FONA framework programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).