Wilhelm May

I am a researcher in climate sciences with a focus on the physical aspects of climate variability and change. I am especially interested in the Indian summer monsoon and the variability and extremes of precipitation in different parts of the world. In this context, I concentrate on the role of the biophysical feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere for climate variability and change.

Much of my research is based on simulations with global or regional climate models and with physical models representing land surface processes or natural vegetation and land use. Most recently, I have implemented a procedure to control the state of land surface, i.e. soil moisture, into the EC-Earth earth system model. By this, I can investigate the extent to which soil moisture interactions contribute to the climate biases in EC-Earth or estimate the contributions of soil moisture interactions to future climatic changes.

I am also interested in the adaptation to climate variability and change. In particular, I have contributed to improving the capacity to adapt to climate variability and change in Zambia and Western Africa, respectively. Here, my focus has been on the utilization of seasonal weather forecasts for various sectors, i.e. agriculture and water management, and on the potential impacts of future climate changes in the respective regions.    

Currently, I am involved in various activities, where I collaborate with scientists at Lund University as well as scientists from other institutions in Sweden and Europe. For FORMAS, I work on a synthesis on “The importance of land-atmosphere biophysical interactions for regional climate and ecosystem change: improved understanding to inform Swedish national climate action”. Within the BECC strategic research area, I participate in the BioInsure project (“Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services as Insurance”), where I cover the aspects related to weather and climate, in particular the projected changes in the relevant aspects of climate. My work on the role of the biophysical feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere for climate variability and change is a contribution to the MERGE strategic research area as well as to the LS3MIP project (Land Surface, Snow and Soil moisture Model Intercomparison Project). I contribute to the activities in the EC-Earth consortium and to the development of the earth system model through my work related to the land surface component of EC-Earth.