RD2 has a unique position in the international climate impact modelling community, as it employs a range of biophysical and socio-economic models from global to local scales. Moreover, RD2 researchers coordinate and co-lead a number of systematic model inter-comparison activities, like ISIMIP and AgMIP. ISIMIP was initiated and coordinated in RD2 until 2018, before the core team moved to RD3.
In close cooperation with RD1 and RD3, the global land biosphere model LPJmL and the global land-use model MAgPIE have been made available as open-source software packages, which are important pillars for the Potsdam Integrated Assessment Modelling Framework (PIAM). The LPJmL development also supports the Potsdam Earth Model (POEM).
Process-based regional impact models are applied to translate global climate change into regional impacts on land, water and vegetation and to explore adaptation strategies. RD2 researchers use econometric and epidemiological methods at the regional to local scale to analyze data from household panel surveys, field experiments, and randomized controlled trials. Within RD2, simulation modelers directly interact with empirical researchers for conducting comprehensive climate impact assessments.
GLOBAL MODELS in RD2
- LPJmL - Lund-Potsdam-Jena managed Land Dynamic Global Vegetation, Agriculture and Water Balance Model is a dynamic global simulation model of vegetation biogeography, vegetation/soil biogeochemistry and agricultural production systems. Taking climate, soil and atmospheric information as input, it dynamically computes spatially explicit transient vegetation composition in terms of plant functional groups, and their associated carbon and water budgets.
- MAgPIE - Model of Agricultural Production and its Impact on the Environment is a global land and water use model. It provides, in connection with the dynamic global vegetation and hydrology model LPJmL, a consistent link between economic development, food and energy demand in different world regions with spatially explicit patterns of production, land use change and water constraints. As an economic optimisation model, MAgPIE is applied to derive economic values (rents) of land and water resources used in agricultural production.
REGIONAL MODELS in RD2
- SWIM - Soil and Water Integrated Model investigates climate and land use change impacts at the regional scale, where the impacts are manifested and adaptation measures take place. The model simulates interlinked processes at the mesoscale such as runoff generation, plant and crop growth, nutrient and carbon cycling, and erosion. It provides numerous model outputs such as river discharge, crop yield, and nutrient concentrations and loads.
- 4C - FORESEE - FORESt Ecosystems in a Changing Environment is a forest dynamics model which allows to analyse forest behaviour under climate change. It describes carbon and water balance of forest stands and includes management and submodels for wood product (WPM) and socio-economic analyses (SEA).
- AMPLIFY - Agricultural Model for Production Loss Identification and Failures of Yield
- IRMA - Integrated Regional Model Approach is a statistical strategy to simulate yield changes of crops by linking them to changes of weather parameters to assess the combined effects of regional climate change and agricultural
- URBGRAV - The URBan GRAVity model explores the concept that growth is more likely to take place close to urban space, as formulated more generally by W.R. Tobler 1970 "Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things".
- CITY-OPTIONS - is a (growing) collection of modules which can be combined to quantitatively assess adaptation options regarding future Climate Change in urban areas.
