Thomas Marke

University of Innsbruck | UIBK · Institute of Geography

The deployment of photovoltaic (PV) systems in the built environment is limited by lacking structural capacity of existing roofs. PV snow mitigation systems can overcome such limitations by reducing heavy snow loads through active snow melting, so that roof area previously indisposed for PV systems can be utilized. The competitiveness of such syste...

The paper summarizes changes of the climate conditions in Austria impacting tourism as part of an extended literature review. The holistic approach of the study enabled to establish the physical links between emissions created by touristic activities and resultant climate responses. Since the end of the 19th century, air temperature in Austria incr...

According to the living data process in ESSD, this publication presents extensions of a comprehensive hydrometeorological and glaciological data set for several research sites in the Rofental (1891–3772 m a.s.l., Ötztal Alps, Austria). Whereas the original dataset has been published in a first original version in 2018 (https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-...

The 30-year simulations of seasonal snow cover in 22 physically based models driven with bias-corrected meteorological reanalyses are examined at four sites with long records of snow observations. Annual snow cover durations differ widely between models, but interannual variations are strongly correlated because of the common driving data. No signi...

We used the spatially distributed and physically based snow cover model SNOWGRID-CL to derive daily grids of natural snow conditions and snowmaking potential at a spatial resolution of 1 × 1 km for Austria for the period 1961–2020 validated against homogenized long-term snow observations. Meteorological driving data consists of recently created gri...

Zusammenfassung Das Klimasystem der Erde besteht aus dem komplexen Zusammenspiel der verschiedenen Sphären, bei dem Energieund Stoffströme zwischen den Weltmeeren, den Landmassen und der Atmosphäre ausgetauscht werden. Dieser Austausch wird durch die Energie der Sonne angetrieben, wobei die Energieumsetzung noch zusätzlich durch Wechselwirkungen mi...

Twenty-seven models participated in the Earth System Model - Snow Model Intercomparison Project (ESM-SnowMIP), the most data-rich MIP dedicated to snow modelling. Our findings do not support the hypothesis advanced by previous snow MIPs: evaluating models against more variables, and providing evaluation datasets extended temporally and spatially do...

In dieser Studie konnte der Mehrwert zweier Tracer mit unterschiedlichem Informationsgehalt in synoptischer Analyse mit meteorologischen und hydrometrischen Daten (Lufttemperatur, Niederschlag, Durchfluss) für die Hydrologie vergletscherter Einzugsgebiete skizziert werden. Innerhalb dieser Studie wurde die zentrale Bedeutung der Schnee- und Gletsch...

Thirty-year simulations of seasonal snow cover in 22 physically based models driven with bias-corrected meteorological reanalyses are examined at four sites with long records of snow observations. Annual snow cover durations differ widely between models but interannual variations are strongly correlated because of the common driving data. No signif...

Mountain regions with complex orography are a particular challenge for regional climate simulations. High spatial resolution is required to account for the high spatial variability in meteorological conditions. This study presents a very high-resolution regional climate simulation (5 km) using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) for th...

The accurate monitoring and understanding of glacier dynamics are of high relevance for climate science and water-resources management. The glacier parameters are typically estimated by data assimilation methods which inject field measurements into the numerical simulations with the aim of improving the physical model estimates. However, these meth...

This paper presents a novel data fusion technique for improving the snow cover monitoring for a mesoscale Alpine region, in particular in those areas where two information sources disagree. The presented methodological innovation consists in the integration of remote-sensing data products and the numerical simulation results by means of a machine l...

In this study, we assess the impact of forcing data errors, model structure, and parameter choices on 1-D snow simulations simultaneously within a global variance-based sensitivity analysis framework. This approach allows inclusion of interaction effects, drawing a more representative picture of the resulting sensitivities. We utilize all combinati...

Mountain regions are climate sensitive zones and a particular challenge for regional climate and hydrology simulations. The complex orography with extreme elevation gradients, as well as varied land cover and ecosystems at small spatial scales lead to a high variability of climatic conditions and hydrological processes. We present a case study for...

This paper describes ESM-SnowMIP, an international coordinated modelling effort to evaluate current snow schemes, including snow schemes that are included in Earth system models, in a wide variety of settings against local and global observations. The project aims to identify crucial processes and characteristics that need to be improved in snow mo...

In this paper, the hydrological impacts of future socio-economic and climatic development are assessed for a regional-scale Alpine catchment (Brixental, Tyrol, Austria). Therefore, coupled storylines of future land use and climate scenarios were developed in a transdisciplinary stakeholder process by means of questionnaire analyses and interviews w...

While science widely acknowledges the necessity of climate change adaptation (CCA), concrete strategies for CCA by major land-use actor groups at a local level are largely missing. Immediate economic challenges often prevent the establishment of long-term collective strategies. However, collective decisions on a communal level regarding land use ar...

A distributed snow model is applied to simulate the spatiotemporal evolution of the Austrian snow cover at 1 km × 1 km spatial and daily temporal resolution for the period 1948-2009. After a comprehensive model validation, changes in snow cover conditions are analyzed for all of Austria as well as for different Austrian subregions and elevation bel...

This paper describes ESM-SnowMIP, an international coordinated modelling effort to evaluate current snow schemes against local and global observations in a wide variety of settings, including snow schemes that are included in Earth System Models. The project aims at identifying crucial processes and snow characteristics that need to be improved in...

For the elaboration of adaption strategies to long-term developments, socio-economic changes need to be included. Participatory scenario methods are a creative and flexible approach to consider uncertainties and serve as a transdisciplinary tool for mutual learning. Therefore, socio-economic scenarios provide comprehensive descriptions of future tr...

In diesem Beitrag werden aktuelle tracerhydrologische Forschungsarbeiten an der Rofenache dargelegt, deren hochalpines Einzugsgebiet in den hinteren Ötztaler Alpen liegt. Es wurden Wasserproben von Abfluss, flachgründigen Quellen, Regen, Schnee und Gletscher genommen und auf ihre Sauerstoff-18-Signatur und elektrische Leitfähigkeit analysiert. Die...

Many energy-balance snow models have been developed over the last three decades with varying degrees of complexity. Typically, process-based models are not calibrated, relying on their parameters being physically meaningful and determinable in the field. In reality, however, many parameters of snow models are abstract, not easy to measure, or the r...

Der vorliegende Beitrag fasst die Ergebnisse eines transdisziplinären Forschungsprojekts zusammen, welches die komplexen Wechselwirkungen von Klima, Gesellschaft und Landnutzung integrativ unter-sucht und quantifiziert. Das Untersuchungsgebiet ist das 322 km² große Brixental in Tirol (Österreich). Im Rahmen des Projekts wurden hydrologische Simulat...

A comprehensive hydrometeorological and glaciological data set is presented, originating from a multitude of glaciological, meteorological, hydrological and laser scanning recordings at research sites in the Rofental (1891–3772 m a.s.l., Ötztal Alps, Austria). The data sets span a period of 150 years and hence represent a unique time series of rich...

Geochemical and isotopic tracers were often used in mixing models to estimate glacier melt contributions to streamflow, whereas the spatio‐temporal variability in the glacier melt tracer signature and its influence on tracer‐based hydrograph separation results received less attention. We present novel tracer data from a high‐elevation catchment (17...

A comprehensive hydrometeorological and glaciological data set is presented, originating from a multitude of recordings at several intensively operated research sites in the Rofental (1891–3772 m a.s.l., Ötztal Alps, Austria). The data sets are spanning a period of 150 years and hence represent a unique, worldwide unprecedented pool of high mountai...

The water balance in forested mountainous catchments is strongly influenced by the interaction of snow and vegetation. Especially coniferous forest canopies have a large storage capacity for snow, exceeding the one for rain by one order of magnitude. The snow intercepted by the trees is exposed to increased turbulence. Hence, the sublimation of int...

Over the last two decades many empirical and physically based models have been developed to predict the seasonal evolution of the snow cover on the ground. Multimodel frameworks support investigations of the performance of snow models with varying complexity, as well as the uncertainty and availability of forcing data propagating through those mode...

Im Rahmen des interdisziplinären Forschungsprojekts STELLA (STorylines of socio-Economic and climatic drivers for Land use and their hydrologicaL impacts in Alpine catchments) wird ein interdisziplinärer Ansatz verfolgt, um die komplexen Wechselwirkungen von Klima, Gesellschaft und Landnutzungsänderung integrativ zu untersuchen und zu quantifiziere...

Seasonal snow cover is an important temporary water storage in high-elevation regions. Especially in remote areas, the available data are often insufficient to accurately quantify snowmelt contributions to streamflow. The limited knowledge about the spatiotemporal variability of the snowmelt isotopic composition, as well as pronounced spatial varia...

In this study, the fully distributed, physically based hydroclimatological model AMUNDSEN is set up for catchments in the highly glacierized Ötztal Alps (Austria, 558 km² in total). The model is applied for the period 1997–2013, using a spatial resolution of 50 m and a temporal resolution of 1 h. A novel parameterization for lateral snow redistribu...

Meteorological time series with 1 h time steps are required in many applications in geoscientific modelling. These hourly time series generally cover shorter periods of time compared to daily meteorological time series. We present an open-source MEteoroLOgical observation time series DISaggregation Tool (MELODIST). This software package is written...

Seasonal snow cover is an important temporary water storage in high-elevation regions. Especially in remote areas, the available data is often insufficient to explicitly quantify snowmelt contributions to streamflow. The unknown spatio-temporal variability of the snowmelt isotopic content, as well as pronounced spatial variations of snowmelt rates...

Automatic weather station recordings at sub-daily time steps are being used as input data for various applications in many disciplines such as hydrology or ecology. Evaluations at sub-daily time steps for multi-decadal periods are thereby of great interest due to their climatological representativeness. However, the availability of continuous hourl...

In this study, the fully distributed, physically based hydroclimatological model AMUNDSEN is set up for catchments in the highly glacierized Ötztal Alps (Austria, 558 km2 in total). The model is applied for the period 1997–2013, using a spatial resolution of 50 m and a temporal resolution of 1 h. A novel parameterization for lateral snow redistribu...

Hourly meteorological time series are required in many applications in geoscientific modelling. These hourly time series generally cover shorter periods of time compared to daily meteorological time series. We present an open-source MEteoroLOgical observation time series DISaggregation Tool (MELODIST). This software package is written in Python and...

This article describes the extension of the ESCIMO.spread spreadsheet-based point energy balance snow model by (i) an advanced approach for precipitation phase detection, (ii) a method for cold content and liquid water storage consideration and (iii) a canopy sub-model that allows the quantification of canopy effects on the meteorological condition...

The projected future impact of climate change on low flows in the Upper Danube basin is analysed for a broad range of climate change scenarios based in a stochastic climate generator or on results of regional climate simulations. The analysis was carried out from 2011 to 2060 both for selected gauges and specifically the outlet gauge at Achleiten a...

GLOWA-Danube, in order to simulate climate change impacts, needs meteorological drivers with high spatial and temporal resolution which reflect the temporal course of the regional climate change signal. Uncertainty in the amount and course of future climate change motivates to define and analyse the impact of a range for assumed temperature and pre...

As global-scale climate scenarios at high spatial detail are not yet available due to existing limitations in computational resources, regional climate models are often applied to allow fine-scale consideration of climate change at the regional scale. This chapter describes the derivation of climate variants from the simulations of the two regional...

Regional climate models still lack in an adequate description of the land surface. Here, hydrological land surface models historically developed from small-scale catchment models with higher spatial resolution than regional climate models. Hence, they have a more detailed view on land surface processes. Therefore, a basic idea was to substitute a l...

As global-scale climate scenarios at high spatial detail are not yet available due to existing limitations in computational resources, regional climate models are often applied to allow fi ne-scale consideration of climate change at the regional scale. This chapter describes the derivation of climate variants from the simulations of the two regiona...

Forests represent significant areas of subalpine environments and their influence is crucial for the snow cover dynamics on the ground. Since measurements of major micrometeorological variables are usually lacking for forested sites, physically based or empirical parameterizations are usually applied to calculate the beneath-canopy micrometeorologi...

We have extended the spreadsheet-based point energy balance snow model ESCIMO.spread (version 1) with a set of parameterizations that enable to quantify the effect of a forest canopy on the meteorological conditions beneath the trees. Modified meteorological variables include precipitation, temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and radiative f...

Ahydrometeorological model chain is applied to investigate climate change effects on natural and artificial snow conditions in the Schladming region in Styria (Austria). Four dynamically refined realizations of the IPCC A1B scenario covering the warm/cold and wet/dry bandwidth of projected changes in temperature and precipitation in the winter half...

The impact of climate change on water resources is one of the most essential issues for the population of mountain areas and their forelands in the future. To identify appropriate adaptation strategies, water balance models must realistically describe and quantify the reactions of watersheds to climate change at the regional scale.

Detailed physically based snow models using energy balance approaches are spatially and temporally transferable and hence regarded as particularly suited for scenario applications including changing climate or land use. However, these snow models place high demands on meteorological input data at the model scale. Besides precipitation and temperatu...

In environmental research the importance of interfaces between the traditional knowledge fields in natural and social sciences is increasingly recognized. In coupled component modelling, the process of developing interface designs can support the communicative, social and cognitive integration between representatives of different knowledge fields....

A module for simulating technical snow production in ski areas coupled to a spatially distributed physically based snow model (AMUNDSEN) is presented. The module explicitly considers individual snow guns and distributes the produced snow along the slopes. The amount of snow produced by each snow gun is a function of the snow gun type, wet-bulb temp...

In this chapter, the quantitative changes of the components of the hydrosphere are analyzed for the period from 1950 to 2010 and then for the period from 2 000 until the end of this century. For the first period, the observed changes are descri- bed by analyzing the time series of snow depth, glacier volu- mes, surface runoff, water temperatures an...

The variability of meteorological parameters, a complex hydrogeology and heterogeneous snow cover dynamics affect the water balance in high alpine terrain. Distributed hydrological modeling is facing challenges in those environments and therefore needs to be adapted to the given conditions. We apply the deterministic hydrological model WaSiM-ETH (S...

In the current study, two regional climate models (MM5 and REMO) driven by different global boundary conditions (the ERA40 reanalysis and the ECHAM5 model) are one-way coupled to the uncalibrated hydrological process model PROMET to analyze the impact of global boundary conditions, dynamical regionalization and subsequent statistical downscaling (b...

The Berchtesgaden National Park (Bavaria, Germany), a study site of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere program in the catchment of Berchtesgadener Ache, is introduced as a platform for interdisciplinary research. As the investigation of how human activities affect the natural resources in the park area, which has been defined a main aim of the progra...

The John’s creek valley (Johnsbachtal) is presented as a long-term, interdisciplinary cooperation platform in upper Styria (Austrian Alps) that brings together the interests and knowledge of persons with different backgrounds (scientists, teachers, students, as well as local actors and the population) with the central aim to generate mutual benefit...

Key Points Complex snow descriptions reproduce observed snow distribution Energy balance method enhances modeling daily snowmelt and discharge variations Simulating lateral snow transport improves runoff modeling in the catchment

This study has the goal to simulate the evolution of the Austrian snow cover from 1971 to 2050 by means of a coupled modelling scheme, and to estimate the effect of climate change on the evolution of the natural snow cover. The model outcomes are interepreted with focus on both the future natural snow conditions, and the effects on winter skiing to...

We present an enhanced method to simulate snow and ice melt discharge into an Alpine reservoir (Gepatsch reservoir, Ötztal Alps, Tyrol/Austria) by combining a process based snow model with sophisticated data assimilation techniques. Within the frame of the alpS project MUSICALS (MUltiscale Snow/ICemelt Discharge Simulation into ALpine ReservoirS),...

The regional water balance of mountainous catchments in the northern limestone Alps is affected by the temporal and spatial variability of meteorological parameters, steep gradients and a complex hydrogeological situation. The karst aquifer with its subsurface flow channel network, fractures and rock matrix has so far unknown effects on the spatial...

We use four different realizations of the IPCC A1B emission scenario based climate simulations provided by the ENSEMBLES project for the study regions Tyrol and Styria. They represent average as well as above average cold/warm and wet/dry conditions in the winter half year (November to April). The scenario and control run simulations were downscale...

Climate change will increasingly influence terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in many regions all over the world. The arctic environment is known to be both, particularly affected and extremely sensitive to changes in the earth's climate system. An increase in temperature, which may be accompanied by an increase in precipitation as predicted for so...

Tourism and particularly winter tourism is a key factor for the Austrian economy. Judging from currently available climate simulations, the Austrian Alps show a particularly high vulnerability to climatic changes. To reduce the exposure of ski areas towards changes in natural snow conditions as well as to generally enhance snow conditions at skiing...

Downstream models are often used in order to study regional impacts of climate and climate change on the land surface. For this purpose, they are usually driven offline (i.e., 1-way) with results from regional climate models (RCMs). However, the offline approach does not allow for feedbacks between these models. Thereby, the land surface of the dow...

The water balance in high Alpine regions is often characterized by significant variation of meteorological variables in space and time, a complex hydrogeological situation and steep gradients. The system is even more complex when the rock composition is dominated by soluble limestone, because unknown underground flow conditions and flow directions...