Objective To develop techniques to extend the physically based andagricultural systems based models, developed under Medalus I, upto the regional scale and climatic models down to the regionalscale in preparation for application in the test areas of Project4 of Medalus II, in order to successfully interface the researchprogramme with the need for scientifically informed policydecisions at regional scales.Sections of the physically based model (mainly the mechanisticsub-model of vegetation) developed under MEDALUS I will berefined, and the whole system will then be extended to theregional scale (up to 5,000 km{2}). Extension of the model tothe regional scale (MEDRUSH) will be through the development ofdistributions of land-use and vegetation from remotely sensedimages; the incorporation of topographic-scale terms in stormprecipitation tracks and the integration of plot run-off andsediment yield up to moderate-sized catchments through anexplicit hydrological model. Distributions of land- use andvegetation will be based on remotely sensed data across theMediterranean zone, empirically relating to DesertificationResponse Units (DRUs) to observe and simulate interactivelpatterns of change over time.The work on remote sensing will concentrate on the use ofmulti-date Landsat TM and NOAA AVHRR data for characterising thetemporal and spatial variability of vegetation and land use at arange of spatial scales (10-1000 km{2}) for field sity andtarget catchments across the whole of the Mediterranean zone.The concept of Desertification Response Units (DRU's) wasdeveloped under Medalus I to link spatial patterns in the fieldto aid in understanding the spatial dynamics of desertificationprocesses. This work will be extended under the current projectto better determine the mechanisms involved in the DRU model(regeneration and colonisation process of sparse vegetation,water distribution at different spatial and temporal scales, etc)and to develop techniques for extending networks of DRU's to theregional scale with the use of remote sensing measurements.The SHE model will be used to simulate impacts of environmentalchange in the regional scale. Use of the SHE at the variousspatial scales will involve comparisons with the extension of theMEDALUS model to provide cross-validation of the MEDALUS.The climate group investigate the implications of the enhancedgreenhouse effect for changes in extreme events, and thepotential impacts of such changes for the agricultural economy ofthe field site and target areas. Routine archiving of climatedata will also continue. In addition, the large-scale regionalclimate change scenarios developed under MEDALUS I will beup-dated as information from new GCM runs becomes available. Itis hoped that detailed regional scenarios can be generated forthe MEDALUS II target areas, as suitable data become available. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringremote sensingnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencessoil sciencesland-based treatmentnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes Programme(s) FP3-ENV 1C - Specific research and technological development programme (EEC) in the field of the environment, 1990-1994 Topic(s) 0403 - Desertification in the Mediterranean area Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS. Address Woodhouse lane Leeds United Kingdom See on map Links Website Opens in new window EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (8) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Accademia Economico Agraria dei Georgofili Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address 8,via giovanni caproni 8 50122 Firenze See on map Instituto de Meteorologia Portugal EU contribution € 0,00 Address Rua c/ aeroporto 1700 Lisboa See on map UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIA Spain EU contribution € 0,00 Address 50,doctor moliner 50 46100 Burjasot See on map UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address University plain NR4 7TJ Norwich See on map Links Website Opens in new window UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Cassie building, claremont road NE1 7RU Newcastle upon tyne See on map UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Western bank S10 2TN Sheffield See on map Universidade de Lisboa Portugal EU contribution € 0,00 Address 1,campo grande 1700 Lisboa See on map University of Bristol United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address BS8 1SS Bristol See on map