WP 1 Scientific Research and Climate Description SHARE promotes the multidisciplinary scientific researches and climate studies of the phenomena in mountain regions linked to six thematic areas: atmosphere, glaciology, energy and water cycle, limnology, biodiversity and natural resources, and medicine. The core of the WP 1 activity is based on the high altitude observation systems devoted to the direct acquisition of long-term high quality data. The scientific researches and the multidisciplinary study are spread in five thematic areas:
- WP 1.1 Atmosphere: study of processes and mechanisms of interaction between mountain ranges and global atmospheric circulation and of physical, chemical and optical properties of aerosol and their variations.
- WP 1.2 Glaciology: Cryospheric researches at high altitude in the Alps, Himalayas and Karakorum are carried out with the goal of determiing intensity and ablation rates nivo-glacial to quantify their impact on hydrology of glaciated basins of high altitude and to analyze their relations with the climatic system.
- WP 1.3 Water Resources: study of water resources in terms of quality and quantity.
- WP 1.4 Biodiversity: Animal Biodiversity: study the effects of global warming on large mammal ungulates and predators in the framework of a monitoring program in the Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal) and Central Karakorum National Park (Pakistan); Plant biodiversity: study of plant biodiversity in mountain key areas in front of climate change in Italian Alps and Apennines, other then in the Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal) where the Himalayan Seed Bank initiative is planned.
- WP 1.5 Medicine: study of human physiology responses to extreme condition and the consequence of indoor pollution on the people living in mountainous areas of developing countries
In this WP eight Pilot Projects have been promoted related to scientific research on mountain regions and devoted to improve knowledge on different environmental themes where it is operated in a specific area of WP 1. Pilot Projects: SHARE-ABC (WP 1.1) : monitoring and research activities in the framework of Atmospheric Brown Clouds UNEP Project at the Nepal Climate Observatory – Pyramid and Pakistan Climate Observatory – Karakorum.
- Funded by: Ev-K2-CNR.
- Coordinator: Paolo Bonasoni (ISAC-CNR, Ev-K2-CNR)
- Partnership: CNR-ISAC, CNRS-LGGE; Urbino University, Department of Environmental Science, Urbino (Italy); ENEA - Italian National agency for new technologies, Rome (Italy); ETHZ - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, (Switzerland)
- Collaboration: Nepal Academy of Science.
- Period: 8-year project (2005-2014)
SHARE-STELVIO (WP 1.2): a regional project designed to monitor climate changes and their impacts on glaciers, water and atmosphere in the Stelvio National Park.
- Funded by: Regione Lombardia through the Fondazione Lombardia per l'Ambiente
- Coordinator: Guglielmina Diolaiuti (Università di Milano)
- Partnership: University of Milan, CNR-ISAC
- Collaboration: CNRS-LGGE
- Period: 3 year (2010-2013)
SHARE-PAPRIKA (WP 1.2): CryosPheric responses to Anthropogenic PRessures in the HIndu Kush-Himalaya regions: impacts on water resources agriculture and society adaptation in Nepal and Pakistan: regional climate observations and future scenarios. SHARE-PAPRIKA is a three year project (2010-2014) composed of two sub-projects: PAPRIKA-KARAKORUM funded by Ev-K2-CNR and PAPRIKA-HIMALAYA funded by CNRS.
- Funded by: Ev-K2-CNR, CNRS, CMCC
- Coordinator: Paolo Laj (CNRS-LGGE)
- Period: 3 year (2010-2013)
SHARE-CEOP-HE (WP 1.3): activities in the framework of Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observation Project (CEOP), World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX).
- Funded by: Ev-K2-CNR
- Coordinator: Gianni Tartari (IRSA-CNR)
SHARE SNOW LEOPARD (WP1.4): because this large feline predator which inhabits the high altitudes of Central Asia is an internationally recognized endangered species, the species Uncia uncia of snow leopard is monitored in order to estimate the population of snow leopards and study its impact on other species like Himalayan tahrs and musk deer.
- Funded by: Ev-K2-CNR
- Coordinator: Sandro Lovari (University of Siena)
- Partnership: University of Milan, CNR-ISAC
- Collaboration: NAST - Nepal Academy for Science and Technology, (NEPAL); DNPWC - Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (Nepal); SNP - Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal); Kathmandu Zoo (Nepal)
SHARE HIMALAYAN SEED BANK (WP1.4): ex-situ conservation of plants in the Himalayas in order to preserve them from the threats of climate change.
- Funded by: Ev-K2-CNR
- Coordinator: Graziano Rossi (University of Pavia)
- Collaboration: NAST - Nepal Academy for Science and Technology, (NEPAL);
SHARE-GARD KHUMBU (WP 1.4): study of biomass cooking, indoor and outdoor pollution in the Himalayan Khumbu Valley in order to evaluate the impacts on human health and global warming; this project collaborate with GARD - Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases.
- Funded by: Ev-K2-CNR
- Coordinator: Annalisa Cogo (University of Ferrara)
- Collaboration: NAST - Nepal Academy for Science and Technology, (NEPAL); Kathmandu University (Nepal)
SHARE-NON-POLAR ICE CORE ARCHIVE (WP 1.2): collection of non polar ice core heritage from glacier at risk, study and conservation. Non polar ice core heritage obtaining and grouping ice cores from glaciers at risk. Planned. The application: SHARE-EVEREST
- In May 2008 a mountaineering expedition led by Silvio Mondinelli worked to install two important extreme altitude automatic weather stations: the highest meteorological station of the world on Mt. Everest’s South Col, at an elevation of 8,000 m a.s.l. and the AWS on Kala Patthar (5,600 m a.s.l.).
- In 2009 the maintenance of the South Col station and Kala Patthar were carried, also considering the replacement of a few weather sensors which were damaged by extreme weather conditions. At present, only the station of Kala Patthar is running.
SHARE-ITALIA
- In Italy, the perspectives for an expansion of the SHARE network will be focused on the establishment of a National High Altitude Network, capable of providing a correct assessment of the atmospheric background conditions related to climate change impacts on the Mediterranean environment. This network will be the best platform to monitor and study environmental and atmospheric conditions confirming the role of mountains as primary indicators of climate change, as stated by the UN General Assembly (Sec. Gen. Report – SMD 62/292, 2007).
SHARE-RWENZORI
- In order to obtain information on one of the most important glacial systems of the African continent,
- an automatic weather station has been installed in Uganda on the Ruwenzori range, at the foot of the Elena glacier at an altitude of 4,700 m. The glaciers of this range, representing about 50% of the surface of African glaciers, and shows a clear reduction of the glaciated area, which have been estimated to
- have lost about 40% of their mass between 1955 and 1990.
- Besides installation of the monitoring site, where standard WMO parameters are collected (air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, global solar radiation, wind speed and direction, rainfall), several measurements of the certain glacial snout positions have been performed, including of the Speke glacier. Laser scanning measurements of the Speke valley have also been carried out in order to estimate the mass loss of the glacier since 1955 until the present day. As a support to the research program, technical and scientific collaboration activities with the Uganda Wildlife Authority and with the Uganda Meteorological Department are underway.
NEXT DATA
- An Italian national system for collecting, storing, accessing and sharing of environmental and climate data. Starting from specific natural areas such as that of the mountains and specific research fields on the sea, NextData aims to encourage the creation of a platform that facilitates the convergence of strategic scientific objectives by harmonizing the policies for access and use of data and adaptation strategies technology and innovation.
Aims The SHARE scientific objectives are to investigate and analyze the influence of anthropogenic and natural processes on regional and continental scale with particular reference to mountain areas with the aim to :
- to study processes and mechanisms of interaction between mountain ranges and regional, continental and global atmospheric circulation;
- to describe physical, chemical and optical properties of aerosol and the variations of these properties;
- to analyse the seasonal variability of polluting and climate-altering atmospheric compounds;
- to recognize the chemical composition of rain and snow;
- to evaluate the mass and energy balance of glacial environments as well as the related human risks and study debris covered glaciers besides the role of debris in ablation processes;
- to monitor variations of glaciers, rock-glaciers and moraines;
- to study the energy and water cycle in order to investigate possible changes of hydrological system in high mountain regions;
- to create dedicated hydrogeological models to predict risk factors;
- study lacustrine trophic chains and sediment biomass accumulation in response to natural or disturbance factors;
- to understand the impacts of climate changes on biodiversity in mountains areas;
- to understand the response of high altitude Himalayan flora to climate change and the impact of climate change on plant diversity in Sagarmatha National Park;
- to contribute to realize an Himalayan seed bank;
- to carry out medicine and physiology studies in extreme conditions;
- to understand the consequence of indoor pollution on the people living in mountainous areas of developing countries;
- to estimate the population of snow leopards, Himalayan tahrs and musk deer and collect data on the movement and habitat use of the snow leopard, through GIS analyses and remote sensing satellite radio-tracking data;
- to develop awareness-raising initiatives to make the return of snow leopard acceptable to the local population;
Activities Originally launched in the Himalaya – Karakorum region (Asia), SHARE has expanded its network in Africa (Uganda) and Europe (Italy), spreading out to South America (Bolivia) in the planning stages. Both high mountain observatories for climate monitoring and automatic weather stations (AWS) for monitor meteorological conditions are currently included in the SHARE network. The climate observatory are located at different altitudes spanning from 2,165 m a.s.l ( Mt. Cimone, Italy) to 5,079 m a.s.l. (Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid, Nepal) while the highest AWS reach the altitude of 8.000 m a.s.l. (Mt. Everest - South Col, Nepal). Thanks to the continuous application of QA/QC procedures, these stations provide long-term high quality data useful for the SHARE research activities and functional to other international program other than to implement international databases. In particular, the AWS in Nepal, Pakistan. Uganda and Italy are reference stations in CEOP (Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observation Project) under the WMO’s initiative World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) – Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (WCRP-GEWEX). These stations are also reference points within the CEOP-High Elevation (CEOP-HE) initiative, promoted in order to investigate possible changes of hydrological and energy cycles in high elevation regions and to better elucidate the role of mountains within the climate system from a local to global scales.The Nepal Climate Observatory at Pyramid (5079 m a.s.l., in the Nepalese Himalayas) is the highest global station of WMO Global Atmospheric Watch program (GAW). Installed near the International Pyramid Observatory- Laboratory in February 2006, is part of the Atmospheric Brown Clouds Project by UNEP. This Italian Climate Observatory “O. Vittori” at Mt. Cimone (Italian Apennines) is also part of WMO-GAW program. Specifically, at both these HMO continuous measurements of aerosol (e.g. black carbon, scattering and absorption coefficients, size distribution, chemical composition), trace gases (non-CO2 greenhouse gases.) and solar radiation are continuously carried out.Basing on this experimental network, SHARE WP-1 promotes multidisciplinary studies of phenomena linked to global changes, developing research activities spanning over the six thematic areas illustrated above: atmosphere, glaciology, energy and water cycle, limnology, biodiversity, medicine that are better described in the specific sub-work packages.
Partner For a detailed list of the partners, please take a look at the dedicated section in each WP.
Publications For a detailed list of the Publications, please take a look at the dedicated section in each WP.
|
|
