Objective To provide quantitative information to decision-makers in theEuropean Commission and water managers in the European Communityon the impacts of climate change on the water balance, throughthe use of climate change scenarios and mathematical hydrologicalmodels, and to provide guidance on the management of waterresources in the EC in the face of climate change.The project will operate on three scales, namely the EC scale,the regional scale (the Rhine basin), and the catchment scale.The links between the various elements are via consistent climatechange scenarios and a consistent methodology.The basic methodology to be used in the current project willconsist in the application of a hydrological and water resourcesmodel under current and perturbed climates to simulatehydrological characteristics at a high spatial resolution (riverflow regimes, variability in runoff regime over time, etc.).The results of these studies will be used to provide quantitativeinformation on the possible changes in the effects of climatechange for regional and catchment scales for selected water usesystems across the EC (Alicromon basin in Greece, Rhine river,water supply system in southern England) and to developprocedures for adapting reservoir management to changingconditions.Sensitivity test of the hydrological regime of the Rhine basinand selected sub-basin to land use change, will be made toestablish baseline trends in order to compare the effects offuture climate change with past variability and future effects ofnon-climate changes. The hydrological models used by theparticipants will differ in methodology, time step and spatialdomain, according to the requirements of the specific study. Theoutputs of the models will however be comparable and produce aconsistent set of project results for the catchment, regional andEC scale. Most of the models to be used already exist, and willneed to be adapted and implemented for the purpose of theproject; the remainder require development largely in order toproduce comparable results across larger regions.A range of scenarios will be developed by the Climatic ResearchUnit of the University of East Anglia for transient changes inmonthly rainfall, temperature and potential evaporation over theperiod 1990 to 2100, at a spatial scale of 0.5º x 0.5º. They will be created by rescaling the standardised output froma number of state--of--the--art global climate model simulationsaccording to the transient global temperature change as determinefor a given emissions scenario from one--dimensional model. Allthe studies will use the same set of scenarios, and steps will betaken to ensure that the scenarios developed for the currentproject are consistent with scenarios that may be applied inother EC climate change impact assessments. Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologynatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changesengineering and technologycivil engineeringwater engineeringwater supply systems Programme(s) FP3-ENV 1C - Specific research and technological development programme (EEC) in the field of the environment, 1990-1994 Topic(s) 0103 - Climate change impacts Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL Address Maclean building, crowmarsh gifford OX10 8BB Wallingford United Kingdom See on map Links Website Opens in new window EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Internationale Kommission für die Hydrologie des Rheingebietes Netherlands EU contribution € 0,00 Address 8200 AA Lelystad See on map NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS Greece EU contribution € 0,00 Address 5,heroon polytechniou 5 15780 Athens See on map RUHR-UNIVERSITY BOCHUM Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address 150,universitaetsstrasse 150 44780 Bochum See on map UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Highfield SO17 1BJ Southampton See on map
