The Mediterranean area is consideredan “hot spot” of climate change. Several studies have confirmed that thisregion is warming at a higher rate than other parts of the world. However,while trends related to rising temperatures are quite well consolidated, theevidence regarding rainfall is more uncertain.

In specific areas of theMediterranean, such as Sicily, a progressive reduction in total rainfall isbeing observed, accompanied by an increase in the frequency and intensity ofextreme events.

In this context, the research projectaims to contribute to the understanding of the signs of climate change inSicily, with a specific focus on extreme rainfall. Different characteristics ofextreme precipitation, such as frequency, magnitude and seasonality, will beanalyzed using different statistical frameworks and different methodologies(e.g., using both linear and circular statistics), as well as different datasources (e.g., rain gauges data, radar maps and reanalysis-based datasets).

Thispreliminary phase will be useful for developing a methodology to examine futurechanges in extreme precipitation. By critically analyzing and correcting theresults provided by various regional climate models and high-resolution models(i.e., Convection-Permitting Models), the consistency, significance androbustness of the projections will be evaluated, thus providing a concretecontribution to climate risk management on a regional scale.

The candidate will need to have someknowledge about statistics, climatology, and atmospheric physics. Otherrequired skills regard the knowledge of the mostly known programming languages,such as R, Matlab and Python.

The research activity will be held at the University ofPalermo and will be coordinated by Prof. Leonardo V. Noto, full professor ofhydrology. His expertise ranges from hydrological modeling, ecohydrology, toclimate change aspects. The team is also composed of some researchers, post-doc,and Ph.D. students with great experience in the above-mentioned topics.Particularly, Dr. Dario Treppiedi, has a strong experience on extreme eventsanalysis and modeling, cooperating with Prof. G. Villarini (Princeton Univ.).The candidate will thus find an enthusiastic team to carry on working on themodeling aspects of this technology.