Please join us for a BBL with visiting researcher Marina Dütsch from the University of Vienna on Wednesday 16 of September at 12.00 in Ostrom. Alternatively, you can join via ZOOM here: https://stockholmuniversity.zoom.us/j/67534906741 Title: Moisture sources of the heavy precipitation event in central Europe in September 2024 Abstract: Two years ago, in September 2024, cyclone Boris brought intense precipitation to central Europe, causing severe flooding in several countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Understanding the processes that led to this event is important for improving prediction and adaptation to similar events in the future. We traced the origin and transport pathways of the moisture contributing to the precipitation during the event using a Lagrangian moisture source diagnostic. The results show that most moisture originated from the European continent (45%), the Mediterranean (16%), Atlantic (15%), Baltic (3%) and Black Sea (3%). Relative to a climatology of moisture sources for the region in the years 1979-2023, the contributions from Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Baltic Sea were particularly high. For the Mediterranean, this is likely related to the record-high sea surface temperatures in summer 2024. In sensitivity experiments with the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF), lower sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean reduced the moisture supply and total precipitation of cyclone Boris. Corresponding changes in the Baltic Sea had little effect, indicating that the high contribution from there was related to other processes, such as anomalous atmospheric transport. Short bio: Marina Dütsch is a Senior Scientist at the University of Vienna, Austria, in the Department of Meteorology and Geophysics. She holds a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences and an MSc in Environmental Sciences from ETH Zürich. Her research focuses on the water cycle, stable water isotopes, atmospheric transport processes, and numerical modeling. She investigates how water moves through the atmosphere and how isotopic signatures can be used to trace moisture sources, transport pathways, and atmospheric processes. Her work also addresses extreme precipitation events, paleoclimatology, and the role of atmospheric processes in shaping climate variability.

Added by:
Lucie Bakels

Cancel this event Edit Event

Show calendar