🎯 Project Objectives
The primary goal of the PD28 / Climatic Footprints project was to separate anthropogenic (human-driven) and natural contributions to observed variability in two of the most sensitive components of the climate system — clouds and sea ice.
The secondary goal was to build an observational reference framework that serves as a benchmark for climate model simulations, helping evaluate:
- The ability of models to reproduce observed spatial patterns
- The timing and evolution of key signals
- The relative strength of anthropogenic and natural forcing factors
🔑 Research Steps
The objectives were achieved through a three-stage research strategy, aligned with the original project proposal:
- **Stage 1 – Data Diagnosis:**
Comprehensive evaluation of observed, reanalysis, and climate model datasets for global cloud cover and sea ice concentration.
- **Stage 2 – Detection & Attribution:**
Identification of anthropogenic and natural “footprints” in:
- Observed cloud cover and sea ice concentration
- Reanalysis-based cloud cover and sea ice concentration
- **Stage 3 – Model Evaluation & Synthesis:**
- Identification of footprints in AWI-ESM2.1 simulations
- Comparison across observations, reanalysis, and model results
- Synthesis of findings into a coherent attribution framework
Together, these steps provide a robust attribution of observed variability in clouds and sea ice to their underlying drivers.