THE BALTIC SEA EXPERIMENT BALTEX - A BRIEF OVERVIEW AND SOME SELECTEDRESULTS OF THE AUTHORS

The mechanisms responsible for the transfer of energy and water within the climate system are under worldwide investigation within the frame work of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) to improv e the predictability of natural and man-made climate changes at short and long ranges and their impact on water resources. Five continental- scale experiments have been established within GEWEX to enable a more complete coupling between atmospheric and hydrological models. One of them is the Baltic Sea Experiment (BALTEX). In this paper, the goals a nd structure of BALTEX are outlined. A short overview of measuring and modelling strategies is given. Atmospheric and hydrological model res ults of the authors only are presented. These include also the validat ion of precipitation using station measurements as well as validation of modelled cloud cover with cloud estimates from satellite data. Furt hermore, results of a large-scale grid based hydrological model to be coupled to atmospheric models are presented. This research has never b een possible without the contribution of research groups and operation al institutions from all 10 member countries. We concentrate here on r esults obtained at the GKSS research center.