Department of Paleoclimate

We reconstructed a new dataset of spatio-temporal HIghly RESolved Atmospheric Forcing Fields (HIRESAFF) for Northern Europe since 1850. As an outcome of the BONUS project ECOSUPPORT, the reconstructed fields provide a new basis for ecosystem (or similar) models to run longer simulations also prior to a large human impact on the Baltic Sea. The dataset also allows a better validation and estimation of model uncertainties under different climatic or nutrient load conditions.

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has a large influence on the European climate i.e. in the winter halfyear (ONDJFM), explaining up to one third of the temperature and precipitation variability. However, the relation between the NAO-Index (zonal index which explains the strength of the westerly winds) and the climate seems to be not stable in time and space. As an example it can be shown that the first leading EOF of SLP over the North Atlantic region is partly not identical with the NAO-pattern - although the NAO is usually expected and defined as leading EOF. In this study we analyse changes in the relation between the atmospheric circulation and the climate with focus on changes in the spatial correlation patterns over the Baltic Sea region in the last 1000 years.