CLIM-HYDROLAKE concentrates on the improvement of regional hydrological impact projections associated with future climate change, in order to develop specific mitigation and adaptation strategies that will protect the socio-economy and biodiversity of the wider Prespa catchment. This is a main goal in climate research, but current hydrological models which drive impact projections cannot be tested against detailed regional records of sufficient (multi-centennial) length. Also, the prediction of multi-decadal wet-dry periods is extremely difficult and benefits greatly from comparison to past analogues.

 

This project will therefore extend the regional hydro-climate record by exploiting the unique landform-sediment archive of the Prespa catchment to make detailed palaeo-hydrological reconstructions spanning the past ~1500yrs. These reconstructions provide (i) the unique opportunity to test hydrological models and theories on relevant (centennial) timescales, and (ii) analogues of hydrological responses to past climate change. Subsequently, we will deliver improved projections of regional hydrological responses to future climate change, using (downscaled) Regional Climate Model simulation output to drive the validated hydrological and empirical models.

 

The research findings of CLIM-HYDROLAKE are briefly summarised in this section. Research findings have been widely disseminated; for in-depth research results you are referred to the presentations and papers that can be found under the heading “Products”.