Project Details
Projekt
Fingerprints analysis of extreme events caused by stratospheric sulfur injections (FASSI)
Applicant
Professor Dr. Ulrich Cubasch
Subject Area
Atmospheric Science
Term
from 2013 to 2018
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 236721971
Climate Engineering refers to a broad set of methods and technologies that aim to deliberately alter the climate system in order to alleviate the impacts of climate change. In this study we will focus on one of the solar radiation management methods, sulfate injection. The idea is reduce the global net radiative forcing by reducing the absorbed solar radiation and reflecting solar radiation back to space. The research intended in FASSI will focus on two questions: (I) what is the effect of stratospheric sulfate injection on climatic extremes and (II) how long will it take until such an effect will be detectable, i.e. statistically distinguishable from climate noise. For the investigation detection and attribution analysis will be used based on climate simulations with and without sulfate injection. A fingerprint of the stratospheric sulfate injection in terms of climatic extremes will be derived as well as an estimate on the timespan, on which the fingerprint may be detected. The analysis will focus on patterns, which are highly relevant for society such as extremes of the Indian monsoon and mid-latitude storm tracks as well as droughts in the Sahel zone. These results can be used to inform policy makers whether certain extreme events, such as a failure of the Indian monsoon, may be related to climate engineering activities.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
Participating Person
Dr. Gerd Bürger
