The Max Planck Institute is involved in the PAGE21 project with two separate research institutes; the Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC) and the Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M).







The Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC) is a research institute of the German Max Planck Society (MPG), founded in 1997. Its research mission is the investigation of the global biogeochemical  cycles and their interaction with the climate system. The institute combines high levels of observational expertise (soil carbon, vegetation structure, vegetation-atmosphere fluxes etc.) with global-scale modelling (e.g. of the global carbon cycle).

 

The MPI-BGC is one of the pivotal European biogeochemical cycle research institutions, and as such is coordinating the EU-funded CARBO-Extreme project. The Institute is deeply involved in several nationally and internationally funded projects concerning the terrestrial carbon cycle, its response to climate change, and related feedback mechanisms. The institute includes state-of-the-art analytical facilities (gas analytics, stable isotope mass spectrometry, accelerator mass spectrometry for 14C analyses) and has access to the German climate supercomputer at the Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ).

 

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The MPI-M was founded as an institute dedicated to fundamental climate research. The overall mission of the MPI-M is to understand how chemical, physical, and biological processes, as well as human  behaviour, contribute to the dynamics of the Earth system, and specifically how they relate to global climate changes.

 

The objectives of the institute are to undertake an analysis of the Earth's composition and dynamics, focusing on the interactive biological, chemical and physical processes that define Earth system's dynamics and, more specifically, to develop and use the appropriate tools to investigate the complexity of the Earth system, explain its natural variability and assess how the system is affected by changes in land-use, industrial development, urbanization, and other human-induced perturbations. Among these tools are advanced numerical models that simulate the behaviour of the atmosphere, the ocean, the cryosphere and the biosphere, and the interactions between these different components of the Earth's system.

 

The MPI-M develops state-of-the-art global climate models, including the different model components dealing  with the atmosphere (ECHAM), ocean and sea ice (MPIOM), and with land surface and biosphere (JSBACH). These models account for biogeochemical processes through the HAMOCC sub-model. Regional models (REMO) are used to provide high resolution climate predictions in geographically limited areas. The MPI-M has been the focal point for climate research in Germany for 30 years. It is currently contributing to integrated assessment studies and socio-economic/climate interactions. It has made major contributions to the analysis of human influence on climate through detection and attribution studies.

 

The Max Planck Institute is committed to developing a comprehensive Earth System Model (ESM) in which the physical aspects of the climate system are coupled with biogeochemical cycles, to making it available to the scientific community, both within Europe and elsewhere, and to informing decision-makers and the public on questions related to climate change and global change. Finally, The MPI-M is the manager of the International Max Planck Research School for Earth System Modelling,which hosts approximately 50 Ph.D. students. 

 

Dr. Stefan Hagemann
MPG Meteorology Homepage