About ISIMIP



At a glance

How does climate change affect natural and human systems already today, and how will it do so in the future?

These are the central questions to ISIMIP, an international network of climate-impact modellers who contribute to a comprehensive and consistent picture of the world under different climate-change scenarios.

ISIMIP develops and provides climate and socioeconomic forcing datasets for cross-sectorally consistent climate impact modeling and curates related model output data. Along with the input data, ISIMIP provides cross-sectorally consistent modeling protocols integrating climate impacts across sectors and scales in a multi-impact model framework.

Based on this, ISIMIP advances knowledge of the risks of climate change facilitating improved global and regional risk management.

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ISIMIP was initiated by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and has since grown to involve over 100 modelling groups from around the world.


Mission


Simulation rounds

Please see the ISIMIP History to read about how the initiative has evolved along the different simulation rounds.

ISIMIP3

The ISIMIP3 simulation round has started with the release of the ISIMIP3a and 3b protocols on 21 February 2020. It follows the long-term goal of harmonizing input data for a growing number of sectors.

The ISIMIP3a protocol focuses on i) impact model evaluation and improvement and ii) detection and attribution of observed impacts according to the framework of the IPCC WGII-AR5 Chapter 18 definition. As a major update, it thus includes a counterfactual “no-climate change baseline” (detrended climate + observed socioeconomic forcing).

The ISIMIP3b protocol is dedicated to a quantification of climate-related risks at different levels of climate change and socioeconomic conditions. A particular focus is put on providing socioeconomic forcing data that account for different adaptation scenarios (group III simulations). Simulations that include future changes of socioeconomic drivers are intended to start in winter 2023/2024.

ISIMIP2b

ISIMIP2b aimed at projecting climate impacts on different sectors at the global and regional scales. The focus topic for ISIMIP2b was to provide robust information about the impacts of 1.5°C global warming and related low-emission pathways, as required for the IPCC Special Report on this topic.

ISIMIP2a

ISIMIP2a targeted the focus topic to evaluate and improve climate impact simulations as a basis for cross-sectorally consistent model intercomparison. A particular emphasis was put on the representation of impacts of extreme weather events and climate variability. This was to allow for improved estimates of the biophysical and socioeconomic impacts of climate change at different levels of global warming.

ISIMIP Fast Track

was the first ISIMIP simulation round and ran from early 2012 until mid 2013. The focus was put on on providing cross-sectorally consistent projections of the impacts of different levels of global warming in the 21st century to inform the IPCC 5th Asessment Report.


Sectors and Contacts

Contact addresses for the ISIMIP management group and the ISIMIP sector coordinators are listed below.

Coordination Team
Coordination Team

General Enquiries (info@isimip.org)

Katja Frieler (Project leader, contact for agriculture, agro-economic modelling and water quality)

Martin Park (Project manager)

Data Management Team
Data Management Team

Data enquiries (isimip-data@pik-potsdam.de)

Matthias Büchner

Jochen Klar (software developer)

Jan Volkholz

Lisa Novak

Cross-Sectoral Science Team
Cross-Sectoral Science Team

Jacob Schewe (contact for water global, lakes, fisheries and groundwater)

Franziska Piontek (contact for energy - not event resolving, labour, health - food security and nutrition)

Christian Otto (contact for energy - event resolving)

Christopher Reyer (contact for forests, terrestrial biodiversity, biomes, permafrost, peat and fire)

Stefanie Heinicke (contact for terrestrial biodiversity)

Matthias Mengel (contact for coastal systems, health - vector and water borne diseases and health - temperature-related mortality)

Dánnell Quesada (contact for water regional)

Water (global)
Water (global)

Simon Gosling

Yadu Pokhrel


Water (regional)
Water (regional)

Valentina Krysanova

Fred Hattermann

Water Quality (in development)
Water Quality (in development)

Maryna Strokal

Rohini Kumar

Groundwater
Groundwater

Robert Reinecke

Inge de Graaf

Fisheries & Marine Ecosystems
Fisheries & Marine Ecosystems

Julia Blanchard (lead coordinator)


Energy (in development)
Energy (in development)

Event-resolving (in development) James Glynn

Michelle van Vliet

Francesco Pietro Colelli

Long term impacts not resolving individual events (Franziska Piontek) - subsector is currently inactive, but ready to be revived under future initiative

Regional Forests (in development)
Regional Forests (in development)

Christopher Reyer

Global Biomes
Global Biomes

Jinfeng Chang

Christopher Reyer

Agriculture
Agriculture

Jonas Jägermeyr

Sam Rabin


Agro-economic Modelling (in development)
Agro-economic Modelling (in development)

Hermann Lotze-Campen

Terrestrial Biodiversity
Terrestrial Biodiversity

Thomas Hickler

Permafrost
Permafrost

Eleanor Burke

Coastal Systems (in development)
Coastal Systems (in development)

Event-resolving (Matthias Mengel)

Not resolving individual events (Jochen Hinkel) - subsector currently inactive, but can be revived under future initiative


Health
Health

Temperature-related mortality (in development; Veronika Huber)

Food security and nutrition (FS-N) (Elizabeth Robinson, Shouro Dasgupta)

Vector-borne diseases (Joacim Rocklöv) - subsector currently inactive, but can be revived under future initiative

Water-borne diseases (Veronika Huber) - subsector currently inactive, but can be revived under future initiative

Lakes
Lakes

Don Pierson

Daniel Mercado-Bettín

Wim Thiery

Ana Ayala-Zamora

Robert Ladwig

Fire
Fire

Chantelle Burton

Fang Li

Stijn Hantson

Matthew Forrest

Peat
Peat

Sarah Chadburn

Angela Gallego-Sala

Noah Smith

Michel Bechtold


Labour supply and labour productivity
Labour supply and labour productivity

Shouro Dasgupta


Organisational structure

ISIMIP is organized in five groups, representatives of which form the steering committee which is the main decision-making body within ISIMIP. The functions of these groups, and the associated workflow, are explained in detail in the ISIMIP Mission & Implementation Document.

The day-to-day coordination of ISIMIP is the task of the management group, comprising the project leader, Dr Katja Frieler, the project manager, and the data manager.

The cross-sectoral science team performs analysis of the ISIMIP simulation data with a clear focus on cross-sectoral issues. This team is also responsible for input-data preparation, and the members act as sector-specific contact points.

Each sector has one or more sector coordinators responsible for overseeing simulations in their sector and working closely with the participating modeling teams. The sector coordinators play a key role in liaising with other sector-specific initiatives in order to minimize the overall burden on participating modelling groups.

The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) is a voluntary group of 5-10 internationally renowned scientists offering oversight and strategic advice to ISIMIP.

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Scientific Advisory Board

The ISIMIP Scientific Advisory Board consists of renowned scientific experts in the field of climate impact modeling and is appointed per simulation round. Find out more about the current ISIMIP SAB.