is going to develop the necessary GAR-database and includes a first description of 1000 and more years of climate variability in the “Greater Alpine Region and meets the demands of the first three of the main objectives of the project.
WT-1 Data Worktask
WT-1 includes four workpackages (WPs) focusing on data collection, new data analyses, quality control, presenting and processing for further analysis in the other two worktasks. WP-1 is established in the instrumental domain, WP-2, WP-3 and WP-4 in the proxy-domain:
- WP-1, “Instrumental records” collects as long as possible (100 to 240 years) instrumental climatological time series of a number of climate elements from internal and external sources (i.e. within and outside the project partners) tests them for homogeneity, processes them for further use in the three other proxy-data WPs and puts them in the public domain for application in research outside the project.
- WP-2, “Tree-ring records” collects climate relevant tree-ring data (for the past 1000 years and beyond) from internal and external sources, focusing on the specific potential of the GAR in respect to temperature sensitivity of tree-rings with increasing altitude and precipitation sensitivity in dry valleys and lee-situations.
- WP-3, “Isotope ice core records” deals with stable water isotopes from ice cores from high elevated Alpine glaciers focusing on their temperature sensitivity. The time scale is also 500 to 1000 years and more.
- WP-4, “Glacier records” collects glacier variability data (length, areal and mass-balance, geomorphological evidence) from existing international databanks and from additional national and sub-national sources focusing on their proxy-potential for radiation, temperature and precipitation but also on their nature as typical Alpine climate impact magnitudes well usable for the demonstration of climate change. The typical time-scales are 50 years (mass balance), 100 to 150 years (length, areas) and 1000 years (historical and geomorphological evidence of outstanding periods).
