Plants are dynamic components in the global cycles of chemicals and energy. Vegetation is not only affected by climatic changes, but also affect the climate through feedback mechanisms such as carbon and water cycling, snow accumulation effects, and reflection of sunlight.
LATICE-X will be a continuation of an existing UiO transformation initiative ("endingsmiljø"), focused on researching Atmosphere - Biosphere – Cryosphere – Hydrosphere interactions in a changing climate. LATICE aims to improve the process understanding, and representation in models, of key features of the northern environments like snow, permafrost, seasonal frost and high latitude vegetation.
The scientific goal of EMERALD is to improve representation of high latitude ecosystems and their climate interactions in the Norwegian Earth System model (NorESM). A long-term aim is to improve and reduce uncertainties in climate projections, and to strengthen cooperation among the scientists who work with terrestrial modelling and climate research in Norway. EMERALD has been funded through the RCN (Forskningsrådet) Programme on Climate Research (KLIMAFORSK).