Supervisors: Prof Jason Evans (jason.evans@unsw.edu.au), Dr Kei-Wai Cheung (kei-wai.cheung@environment.nsw.gov.au), Dr Fei Ji (fei.ji@environment.nsw.gov.au)
The Australian Alps are the highest mountain range in Australia. It comprises only about 0.16% of Australia in size, however, it is an important region in terms of ecosystem, biodiversity, energy generation and winter tourism. Alpine areas are vulnerable to climate change. Observations have shown significant increase in temperature in the Alps which has already impacted human and natural systems as well as the tourist industry in this region. NARCliM (NSW/ACT regional climate modelling) also suggested faster warming in the Alps (compared with other regions with lower altitudes) will continue in the future. However, the mechanisms behind this faster warming has not been well investigated and explained.
In this study, the NARCliM and NARCliM1.5 simulations will be used to analyse the relationship between warming rate with changes in albedo and surface energy budget to provide evidence-based explanations. The results will also be of reference to diagnose the future generations of NARCliM.
This project will be based at UNSW and DPIE.