Projected cryospheric and hydrological impacts of  21st century climate change in the Ötztal Alps (Austria)  simulated using a physically based approach

Hanzer, Florian; Förster, Kristian; Nemec, Johanna; Strasser, Ulrich

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-1593-2018

Articles | Volume 22, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-1593-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-1593-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 2

Research article

|

01 Mar 2018

Research article |

| 01 Mar 2018

Projected cryospheric and hydrological impacts of 21st century climate change in the Ötztal Alps (Austria) simulated using a physically based approach

Florian Hanzer, Kristian Förster, Johanna Nemec, and Ulrich Strasser

Data sets

Climate Data Vent, Ötztal Alps, 1935-2011 Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.806582

Climate Data Vent, Ötztal Alps, 2012-2016 I. Juen and G. Kaser https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.876595

Hydrological and meteorological records from the Vernagtferner Basin - Vernagtbach station, for the years 1970 to 2001 H. Escher-Vetter, H. Oerter, O. Reinwarth, L. N. Braun, and M. Weber https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.775113

Hydrological and meteorological records from the Vernagtferner Basin - Vernagtbach station H. Escher-Vetter, L. N. Braun, and M. Siebers https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.829530

The Austrian Glacier Inventories GI 1 (1969), GI 2 (1998), GI 3 (2006), and GI LIA in ArcGIS (shapefile) format A. Fischer, B. Seiser, M. Stocker-Waldhuber, C. Mitterer, and J. Abermann https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.844988

Short summary

Climate change effects on snow, glaciers, and hydrology are investigated for the Ötztal Alps region (Austria) using a hydroclimatological model driven by climate projections for the RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5 scenarios. The results show declining snow amounts and strongly retreating glaciers with moderate effects on catchment runoff until the mid-21st century, whereas annual runoff volumes decrease strongly towards the end of the century.