The Sixth International Scientific Conference on the Global Energy and Water Cycle will focus on the results from field experiments and new developments in observations, modelling , and theory that are being undertaken in the framework of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX). Related activities within the GEWEX framework are expected to be reported on, with a particular emphasis on the linking of disciplines such as coupled atmospheric and land surface models and cross-discipline studies. The advances in scientific knowledge to be presented at the conference will provide new information towards assessing the impact of climate on water resource management. Overall the conference will present both current and future challenges within the context of GEWEX and WCRP.

The Second iLEAPS Science Conference will follow the path set by the First Conference, which took place in 2006 in Boulder, Colorado, and the 2003 planning conference in Helsinki, Finland. The 2009 conference will focus on interactions and feedbacks in the land-atmosphere system in order to improve our understanding of the processes and parameterization of modelling. Topics will cover, for example, the various interactions between theory, modelling, and field measurements; multiple stress interactions and the role of fire in biosphere-atmosphere exchanges; the strategies needed to apply observations at the leaf- to the Earth system model scale; the exchange of reactive trace gases between soils, vegetation, and the atmosphere; and the land surface as a source of aerosols.

The conferences will hold joint sessions on three common themes with keynote talks, oral and poster presentations. This venue provides an exciting platform for presenting and discussing the latest scientific developments in the area of water, energy, and biogeochemical cycles. It also provides the opportunity for cross-fertilization between the sciences represented by both GEWEX, as part of the World Climate Research Programme, and iLEAPS, as part of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme in addressing present and future climate and global change challenges.

Joint Sessions Themes of the Parallel Science Conferences

Land in the Climate System

The land surface has an effect on climate, which in turn affects the structure of the land surface. Land use and land cover have an effect on surface energy and water balance, radiation, cloudiness, temperature, and biochemical cycles, particularly noticeable at but not limited to the local and regional scale. This session invites papers that address the involvement of land in the climate system, the coupling between the land and the atmosphere, and especially coupling/feedback mechanisms.

Aerosol, Cloud, Precipitation and Climate Interactions

Despite the large body of research on the potential climate impacts of anthropogenic aerosols on the Earth’s radiative balance, much less is known about their effects on precipitation and their consequences for the climate system and the water cycle. A new research initiative by iLEAPS, GEWEX, and the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project called the Aerosols, Clouds, Precipitation and Climate (ACPC) initiative studies the complex interactions between meteorological parameters, aerosols, cloud microphysics, precipitation, and dynamics. This session will focus on ACPC-related research.

Future Integrated Observations and Modelling System

The study of the Earth system is based on both in-situ and remotely-sensed observations. Theory development and validation and concurrent model development ensure the expansion of our knowledge of critical processes related to water, energy, and biogeochemistry. To improve predictions of the function and changes of the Earth system, the validation of existing methods and the development of new observations and tools is essential. This session will focus on the transition from current methodologies and observations to the integrated use of new observations and tools, as well as the new and exciting science that such changes will bring.