Climate Resilience

ADAPTER (ADAPT TERrestrial systems) is an applied knowledge transfer project started in spring 2019 by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers (HGF). ADAPTER's goals are to develop and provide innovative simulation-based products for weather and climate-resilient agriculture.

In the map on this page we show daily 9-day forecasts of plant-available water [%] (PAW) from simulations with the integrated hydrological model ParFlow at 611m resolution for Germany and surrounds for different depth layers. Use the sliders to select a depth layer and a date and time. Data fields are 12-hour averages from 1-12 and 13-24 each day. The depths indicate the thickness of the layer, starting from the surface, for which the plant-available water is shown. The simulations are driven by HRES meteorological forecast data from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Simply put, the PAW scale gives an indication of the amount of water, which is stored in the respective soil layer, which is actually available to be used by plants. PAW is provided in %; at 100% water can be easily taken up by plants; at 0% the soil is so dry that plants wilt. We derive many more water-cycle related quantities from the ParFlow forecasts; in collaboration with the farming community and key stakeholders PAW has been identified as an important diagnostic. The PAW forecasts shown here are intended as a supplementary information on the hydrological state of the terrestrial system, but never the only piece of information, that is taken into account for decision-making.

Interactive Map

In a cooperation between the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) of Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon and the Institute for Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-3, Agrosphere) of Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), the ADAPTER project develops and provides innovative simulation-based "prototypical" products for a weather and climate-resilient agriculture. These are based on (i) extensive analyses of climate change projections from regional climate models (primarily from the EURO-CORDEX initiative) and other data sources, and (ii) high-resolution monitoring and forecasting simulations with the integrated hydrological model ParFlow as well as in-situ observations with a focus on soil moisture, e.g., using Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensors. The knowledge transfer takes place via a so-called practice network and a "digital product platform". In terms of a user-oriented science that makes applicable information available for practitioners, the specific information needs of various key partners from agriculture define the specific project goals and the design of the products.
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Last updated at: 31.05.2022