HOLMODRIVE - “North Atlantic Atmospheric Patterns influence on Western Iberia Climate: From the Lateglacial to Present” (FCT funded project: PTDC/CTA-GEO/29029/2017)

The project seeks to improve our understanding of long-term natural variability in extreme storm events impacting the Iberian Peninsula and their relationships with Atmospheric Rivers and large-scale modes of North Atlantic and European climate variability such as NAO, EA, SCAND as well as slow varying patterns such as AMO.

The project combines several independent and complementary palaeohydrological approaches focusing on meteorological instrumental data, flash floods damaging episodes from documentary sources, proxy-based natural archives, and model simulations. A ground-truthed record from Lake Peixão on Serra da Estrela (UNESCO Geopark) is used, where a multi-disciplinary approach has been implemented. The sediments characterization involves nondestructive methods: High-resolution geochemical (XRF) analysis and CT-scan; and destructive methods: Biomarkers (n-alkanes); Bulk organic matter analysis (TOC, C, N), Charcoal, Chironomid, Diatoms, XRD, and Pollen analysis.

The project is divided in the following working packages (WP):

• Generating a historical record since the beginning of the 20th century of storm events from regional instrumental data and comparing these against records of ARs and modes of climate variability to demonstrate the relationship between them.
• Recovering the complete sedimentary record from a Portuguese mountain lake.
• Laboratory analyses of the Lake Peixão core sediments.
• Using a new set of robust regional ground-truthed records and the already available regional records combined with paleoclimate simulations to generate quantitative records of past climate.
• Characterizing the evolution of the atmospheric and oceanic mechanisms influence on extreme events impacting the Western Iberian Peninsula.
• Communicating the results of the project, publishing and applicability of the findings.
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