TY - GEN A1 - Ahmadpour, Somayeh A1 - Bayzidi, Yasin A1 - Trachte, Katja T1 - Spatio-temporal patterns of evapotranspiration in the temperate Eastern German lowlands and its response to climate and land use change T2 - Theoretical and applied climatology N2 - Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key factor in the water and energy cycle, playing a critical role, especially in agricultural regions. The eastern German lowlands, with their continental climate, are one of the driest regions in Germany, yet agriculture is the dominant land use. This study investigates the spatio-temporal variability of ET and its response to climate and land use/land cover change (LUCC) using MODIS remote sensing products and in-situ measurements over the period 2000-2020. The results show a slight increase in the mean annual ET, with local increases of up to 7.2% in the southern and southeastern parts of Brandenburg. LUCC revealed a 22.2% decrease in grassland to cropland conversion, leading to a decline in ET of 21%, while conversion from grassland to cropland increased by 14.8%, resulting in a 10% increase in ET. The strongest relationship with ET was found for vapor pressure deficit (VPD), temperature (Temp), and relative humidity (RH), which contributed 25.2%, 30.9%, and 23.2%, respectively, to its total variability. In addition to atmospheric factors soil moisture (SM) also contributed 17.7% to ET, but only in grassland. LUCC played a minor role as 22% of the study area was under conversion. Consequently, climate change, represented by the temporal change of the climatic factors, was identified as the dominant driver of ET in the study area, accounting for 97% of its variability. Accordingly, these findings underscore the importance of Temp, RH, and SM in agricultural and water resource management. Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-025-05529-5 SN - 1434-4483 VL - 156 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - Springer ER - TY - GEN A1 - Laux, Patrick A1 - Feldmann, David A1 - Marra, Francesco A1 - Feldmann, Hendrik A1 - Kunstmann, Harald A1 - Trachte, Katja A1 - Peleg, Nadav T1 - Future precipitation extremes and urban flood risk assessment using a non-stationary and convection-permitting climate-hydrodynamic modeling framework T2 - Journal of hydrology N2 - Urban planners and engineers rely on historical climate data to plan and design flood protection infrastructure that should withstand extreme flooding events with 1% annual exceedance probability (the 100-year flood). Here, we examine how hourly precipitation extremes are expected to change as temperatures rise and how this will affect urban flooding. The changes to short-duration rainfall extremes, often insufficiently considered in practice, are addressed utilizing a new temperature conditional extreme precipitation scaling approach and a novel regional climate convection-permitting model ensemble for +2 °C and +3 °C global warming scenarios. Based on hydrodynamic modeling, we estimate how future precipitation extremes translate into flood risks in two pre-alpine communes in Germany. Ignoring the impacts of climate change may lead to severe underestimations of flood risks. The +3 °C global warming scenario translates into an increase of 60% of affected buildings by the highest flood risk category (water level of 1 m and above). The increase in flow intensities will be greater in the commune characterized by steeper terrain. The results suggest that recently planned or implemented infrastructure projects may not be adequately equipped to cope with the anticipated effects of climate change in the coming decades. KW - Urban pluvial flooding KW - Non-stationary precipitation extremes KW - Clausius-Clapeyron KW - TENAX KW - Convection-permitting models KW - Hydrodynamic modeling KW - Flood hazard Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133607 SN - 1879-2707 VL - 661, Part B SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - GEN A1 - Gerwin, Werner A1 - Raab, Thomas A1 - Hinz, Christoph A1 - Letmathe, Peter A1 - Leuchner, Michael A1 - Roß-Nickoll, Martina A1 - Rüde, Thomas A1 - Trachte, Katja A1 - Wätzold, Frank A1 - Lehmkuhl, Frank T1 - Perspectives of lignite post‑mining landscapes under changing environmental conditions: what can we learn from a comparison between the Rhenish and Lusatian region in Germany? T2 - Environmental Sciences Europe N2 - Background The decision of the German federal government to cease lignite mining until 2038 or—if possible— already earlier until 2030, will cause manifold transition processes in the remaining lignite mining districts of Germany. The two largest districts are located in geographically opposite regions: The Rhineland in the western part and Lusatia in the east of Germany. As particularly these two mining districts will experience severe changes in their socioeconomic as well environmental conditions, the federal government has adopted comprehensive economic support measures. However, the environmental changes will also cause altered ecosystem functions and services to be provided by the future post-mining landscapes. Results In this paper, the two main lignite-producing regions of Germany are compared with regard to their natural and cultural settings. The economic situation and its history are reflected and differences are outlined. Part of the disparities in the cultural development can be explained by very different natural conditions, especially edaphic factors and climatic situation. Because of dissimilar geological settings, different mining technologies were developed and are in use in the two regions with distinct effects on the resulting post-mining landscapes. Conclusion The long-standing and manifold lignite mining activities have radically restructured the landscapes in Lusatia and the Rhineland. With the ongoing decline of the mining industry and its complete cessation, presumably within the next decade, both regions will alter their faces significantly. These changes offer both challenges but also opportunities with respect to the post-mining landscapes and their ecosystem services they are going to provide. The prerequisites for a positive socioeconomic development and for sustainable land-use concepts that also consider ecological aspects are different for both regions. However, or especially because of these differences, the knowledge exchange and experience transfer between both mining regions are pivotal for the success of this extensive transformation process. KW - Lignite mining KW - Ecosystem services KW - Post-mining landscapes KW - Transformation processes Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-023-00738-z SN - 2190-4715 VL - 35 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Lehmkuhl, Frank A1 - Gerwin, Werner A1 - Raab, Thomas A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Hinz, Christoph A1 - Letmathe, Peter A1 - Leuchner, Michael A1 - Roß-Nickoll, Martina A1 - Rüde, Thomas R. A1 - Trachte, Katja A1 - Wätzold, Frank T1 - Perspectives for the lignite post-mining landscapes of the lignite mining landscapes under changing environmental conditions - what can we learn from a comparison between the Rhenish and the Lusatian regions in Germany? : EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria & Online | 14–19 April 2024 N2 - The German government's decision to phase out lignite mining by 2038 or earlier, as recently 2030 has been agreed for the Rhineland, will trigger a number of transition processes in Germany's remaining lignite mining areas. The two largest lignite mining areas are located in geographically different regions: Rhineland in the west and Lusatia in the east. As the socio-economic and environmental conditions in these two mining areas are set to change dramatically, the German government has adopted extensive economic support measures. However, the environmental changes will also lead to changes in the ecosystem functions and services provided by the future post-mining landscapes. Gerwin et al. (2023) compare the two main lignite producing regions of Germany in terms of their natural and cultural environments. The economic situation and its history are reflected and differences are outlined. Part of the differences in cultural development can be explained by the natural conditions, especially the edaphic factors and the climatic situation. Because of the specific geological settings, tailored mining technologies were developed and used in the two regions, with different effects on the resulting post-mining landscapes. We conclude that the landscapes of Lusatia and the Rhineland have been radically restructured by the long and varied history of lignite mining. Both regions will change significantly as the mining industry continues to decline and is expected to cease altogether within the next decade. These changes in the post-mining landscapes and the ecosystem services will provide both challenges and opportunities. The preconditions for positive socio-economic development and for sustainable land use concepts that also consider ecological aspects are different for the two regions. The exchange of knowledge and experience between the two mining regions is crucial to the success of this major transformation process, despite, or perhaps because of, these differences. Gerwin, W., Raab, T., Birkhofer, K., Hinz, C., Letmathe, P., Leuchner, M., Roß-Nickoll, M., Rüde, T., Trachte, K., Wätzold, F., Lehmkuhl, F. (2023): Perspectives of lignite post-mining landscapes under changing environmental conditions: what can we learn from a comparison between the Rhenish and Lusatian region in Germany? Environmental Sciences Europe 35:36. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-023-00738-z Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2791 PB - Copernicus GmbH ER - TY - GEN A1 - Molina, M. O. A1 - Careto, J. M. A1 - Gutiérrez, C. A1 - Sánchez, E. A1 - Goergen, K. A1 - Sobolowski, S. A1 - Coppola, E. A1 - Pichelli, E. A1 - Ban, N. A1 - Belus̆ić, D. A1 - Short, C. A1 - Caillaud, C. A1 - Dobler, A. A1 - Hodnebrog, Ø. A1 - Kartsios, S. A1 - Lenderink, G. A1 - de Vries, H. A1 - Göktürk, O. A1 - Milovac, J. A1 - Feldmann, H. A1 - Truhetz, H. A1 - Demory, M. E. A1 - Warrach-Sagi, K. A1 - Keuler, K. A1 - Adinolfi, M. A1 - Raffa, M. A1 - Tölle, M. A1 - Sieck, K. A1 - Bastin, S. A1 - Soares, P. M. M. T1 - The added value of simulated near-surface wind speed over the Alps from a km-scale multimodel ensemble T2 - Climate dynamics N2 - The advancement of computational resources has allowed researchers to run convection-permitting regional climate model (CPRCM) simulations. A pioneering effort promoting a multimodel ensemble of such simulations is the CORDEX Flagship Pilot Studies (FPS) on “Convective Phenomena over Europe and the Mediterranean” over an extended Alps region. In this study, the Distribution Added Value metric is used to determine the improvement of the representation of all available FPS hindcast simulations for the daily mean near-surface wind speed. The analysis is performed on normalized empirical probability distributions and considers station observation data as the reference. The use of a normalized metric allows for spatial comparison among the different regions (coast and inland), altitudes and seasons. This approach permits a direct assessment of the added value between the CPRCM simulations against their global driving reanalysis (ERA-Interim) and respective coarser resolution regional model counterparts. In general, the results show that CPRCMs add value to their global driving reanalysis or forcing regional model, due to better-resolved topography or through better representation of ocean-land contrasts. However, the nature and magnitude of the improvement in the wind speed representation vary depending on the model, the season, the altitude, or the region. Among seasons, the improvement is usually larger in summer than winter. CPRCMs generally display gains at low and medium-range altitudes. In addition, despite some shortcomings in comparison to ERA-Interim, which can be attributed to the assimilation of wind observations on the coast, the CPRCMs outperform the coarser regional climate models, both along the coast and inland. KW - Regional climate modelling KW - Wind speed KW - Added value KW - Probability density functions KW - Downscaling Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-024-07257-4 SN - 0930-7575 SN - 1432-0894 VL - 62 IS - 6 SP - 4697 EP - 4715 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ; Heidelberg ER - TY - GEN A1 - Tsonkova, Penka A1 - Quinkenstein, Ansgar A1 - Böhm, Christian A1 - Freese, Dirk A1 - Schaller, Eberhard T1 - Ecosystem services assessment tool for agroforestry (ESAT-A): Anapproach to assess selected ecosystem services provided by alleycropping systems T2 - Ecological Indicators Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.04.024 IS - 45 SP - 285 EP - 299 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Veste, Maik A1 - Grey, Kerry-Anne A1 - Gottschalk, Nadine A1 - Trachte, Katja A1 - Midgley, Guy F. T1 - Can shelterbelt trees reduce evapotranspiration and ecophysiological stress in irrigated vineyards and citrus orchards? A transcontinental experiment in the Western Cape, South Africa and Lower Lusatia, Germany T2 - Landscape 2021 - Diversity for Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture N2 - In the context of ongoing climate change and increasing population, there is an urgent need to optimize the water consumption of surface and groundwater in agricultural production. In recent years, intensive irrigated viticulture and horticulture have faced increasing demand pressure in many water-limited areas including the Western Cape Province in South Africa. Shelterbelts of trees are often used to reduce wind speed and water demands as an eco-engineering measure directly influencing soil evaporation and crop transpiration. Objectives are (i) to evaluate the extent of impacts of wind speed from shelterbelts at canopy level in citrus orchards and vineyards (ii) to assess the wind effects at leaf level including leaf temperature and related ecophysiological performance in irrigated vineyards. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.34333.03043 ER -