Mountains cover approximately one-quarter of the total land surface on the planet, and a significant fraction of the world’s population lives within, in their vicinity, and downstream. Orography critically affects weather and climate processes at all scales and, in connection with factors such as land-cover heterogeneity, is responsible for high spatial variability in mountain weather and climate. This session is devoted to showcasing research that contributes to improving our understanding of weather and climate processes in mountain and high-elevation areas around the globe, as well as their modification induced by global environmental change. This includes the interaction of mountain weather and climate with the terrestrial cryosphere.
We welcome contributions describing the influence of mountains on the atmosphere on meteorological and climate time scales, including terrain-induced airflow, orographic gravity waves, orographic precipitation, land-atmosphere exchange over mountains, forecasting, and predictability of mountain weather. Contributions connected with the TEAMx research programme (http://www.teamx-programme.org/) are encouraged.
We also encourage theoretical, modeling and observational studies on orographic gravity waves and their effects on the weather and the climate.
Furthermore, we invite studies that investigate climate processes and climate change in mountain areas based on monitoring and modeling activities. Particularly welcomed are contributions that connect with and address the interdisciplinary objectives of the Elevation-Dependent Climate Change (EDCC) working group of the Mountain Research Initiative ( https://mountainresearchinitiative.org/our-activities/community-led-activities/active-working-groups/elevation-dependent-climate-change/).