Feature
The effects of climate change on winter service in Germany
Authors
Peter Hoffmann, Hermann Österle and Friedrich-Wilhelm Gerstengarbe Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam
Christian Holldorb Professor Infrastructure -Traffic, Faculty of Architecture and Construction Engineering, Hochschule Karlsruhe - University of Applied Sciences
Franziska Rumpel Biberach University of Applied Science, Institute for Real Estate Economics, Infrastructure, Planning and Project Management (Germany)
Under the circumstances of the climate change occurring in Europe, it is critical to study its impact on winter road service in the future. In addition to the gradual rise of average temperature, climatic variability and extreme state of nature should be considered: heavy snowfalls have unexpectedly occurred and damaged the traffic system these years. This paper firstly introduces the regional climate data and statistical model scheme that are used to simulate the future climate. Secondly, the obtained climatic results for the past as well as the future are presented and examined with variation during the winter season and their impact on the winter road maintenance for the highways in Germany. Two critical items of winter service that are simulated with some climatic parameters are presented in the end.