Atmospheric Circulation
- Improvement of our knowledge of atmospheric processes (e.g., turbulence, convection, microphysics, radiation) through the synergistic use of Earth Observations and modeling tools at different scales
Climate Variability and Changes
Aim: Understanding the past, current and future global changes in the Earth system and the fundamental physical and dynamical processes affecting climate variability and trends at different spatial and temporal scales.
Climate Hotspots
Aim: Understanding the processes and feedbacks leading to the amplification of climate changes and of their impacts in so-called hotspot areas (polar regions, mountain areas, the Mediterranean basin, and urban environments) and study of climate predictability in these areas.
Climate and weather extremes
- Understanding the mechanisms and their feedbacks responsible for precipitation and temperature extremes in a changing climate, through a synergistic use of models and observations
- Identification of the atmospheric conditions causing severe convection conducive to extreme hydro-meteorological events
Water Cycle
- Analysis and assessment of changes in the water cycle (large scale circulation and moisture transport, precipitation regimes, snow cover, glaciers, availability of water resources) in a warming climate.
- Understanding and modelling processes and climate responses of the different components of the Earth system involved in the water cycle at global and regional scales.
- Assessing mechanisms for climate tipping points and their impacts.
- Development and integration of observational technologies and methodologies and modeling systems for the monito
Climate Monitoring in Italy
Monitoring and assessment of the state of the Italian climate: monthly climate bulletins showing the state of the Italian climate and ranking of the latest monthly/seasonal/annual anomaly within the context of the last two centuries of climate variability
Climate Modelling
Contributing to a better understanding of the basic processes determining climate variability and change, through the production of climate change scenarios at global and regional scales, the development of climate downscaling techniques and of specific products for Climate Services, the determination of the impacts of climate change and associated risks, with special emphasis on the Italian territory and on hot-spot regions.
Meteorological Modelling
This research activity aims at developing and implementing numerical tools apt to simulate and predict, with a high degree of accuracy, the physical and dynamical processes responsible for the atmospheric variability from the planetary to the turbulent scale, as well as for applications in the field of meteorology, atmospheric composition and dispersion.
Observations
Earth Observation (EO) technology is used to contribute to a better physical understanding of the interactions and feedbacks between atmospheric processes both in the upper and lower part of the troposphere and at the air/soil interface. The EO activity is carried out within four main directions:
