Quantifying the multi-scale water supply to the Atacama Desert impacting biology and landscape evolution (A01)

• Subject Area: Atmospheric Science
• Term: since 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 268236062

Instead of the idealized, closed Rutllant cell brought forth by daytime "Andean Pumping", we found a complex combination of forward and backward movements transporting water vapor in and out of the desert with distinct valleys and basins acting as water vapor pathways from the ocean, via the coastal mountains to Central Depression. Based on our previous findings and developed tools we aim to quantify the different moisture sources and their spatial-temporal variability in the Atacama Desert and investigate the dependence on large-scale forcing factors. Particular interest is in quantifying the currently unknown magnitude of fog water deposition as an important input for biological processes.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1211: Earth - Evolution at the Dry Limit
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Susanne Crewell; Professor Dr. Ulrich Löhnert