Elisa Palazzi

Research Activity

The main current research activity is the study of the climate system and Earth-System processes and interactions, with a specific focus on 1) the current and future evolution of the hydrological cycle, in particular precipitation and snow, in the mountain regions, and 2) the Elevation-Dependent Warming, the mechanism by which high-altitude regions are experiencing more rapid and intense warming rates than the surrounding areas or compared the global mean. Recent studies have been mainly focused on the Italian Alps and the Tibetan Plateau-Himalayas in Asia. These activities are performed through the analysis of both observations (in-situ, gridded datasets, satellite data) and data from global and regional climate model simulations (e.g., from CMIP and CORDEX archives). 

Another research branch is related to the use of climate downscaling methods, in particular a stochastic rainfall downscaling procedure called RainFARM, suitable for precipitation also in orographically-complex regions. Climate downscaling is used to bridge the scale gap between the coarse scales of the state-of-the-art global and even regional climate models and the small scales at which impacts on the ecosystems, hydrology and risks mostly occur. The downscaling activities are performed in close collaboration with hydrological/impact modellers and in the framework of several national, European and international projects and initiatives. I have also experience in the development and use of diagnostic tools to compare data from climate models and observations, in model validation  and process-oriented evaluation.

In the past I developed and used radiative transfer models for the analysis of atmospheric trace gases measured by means of remote sensing techniques.