Introduction

BALTEX is the European Continental-Scale Experiment (CSE) of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) within the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). The 5th BALTEX Study Conference is devoted to BALTEX Phase II objectives and will review research results related to water and energy cycles in the climate system, climate and climate variability, water management issues, and air and water quality studies with a regional focus on the Baltic Sea drainage basin. For the first time, the Conference is organised in co-operation with other organisations (see Organisation) or programmes with a dedicated activity profi le in areas where BALTEX intends to, or has already started to contribute to:

• HELCOM, the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission;

• LOICZ (Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone), a core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP);

• the INTERREG IIIB Project ASTRA (Developing Policies & Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in the Baltic Sea Region),

• the European Union’s 6th Framework Programme (FP6) Integrated Project ENSEMBLES (Ensemble-based predictions of climate changes and their impacts);

• the FP6 Network of Excellence EUR-OCEANS (Excellence for Ocean Ecosystem Analysis).

The Conference is open for contributions related to the objectives of the above co-operating partners. The Conference programme will be finalised after the abstract submission date and is planned to include related specific sessions.

While the regional focus of the Conference is the Baltic Sea drainage basin, contributions from other basins are welcome, in particular those originating from other GEWEX CSEs or based on data of the Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period (CEOP).

Conference Photos

Aftermath and Conference Summary

Conference Proceedings
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Final Conference Programme
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• Improved understanding of energy and water cycles of the Baltic Sea basin focussing on closing energy and water budgets with improved accuracy for major river basins, the Baltic Sea, and at continental scale using field experiments, remote sensing applications and numerical modelling;

• Analysis of climate variability and change since 1800, and provision of regional climate projections over the Baltic Sea basin for the 21st century, including impacts on ecosystems as well as studies on adaptation and mitigation strategies and policies;

• Improved tools for water management with emphasis on extreme events and long-term changes including assessments of water resources in today‘s and future climates;

• Air and water quality studies with emphasis on harmful substances as well as nutrient and carbon cycles for the Baltic Sea basin, integration of these cycles into regional coupled models, and related fi eld experiments.

Invited and contributed papers will be presented in plenary along with parallel poster sessions. Conference language is English.