In the last decades there has been a growing number of reconstructions of past climates from proxy data. Over the same period, our efficiency in hydrological and climatic modeling increased geometrically. Therefore there is a need of high quality gridded reconstructions of temperature and precipitation that can be used as input for the hydrological models or for validation purposes of Earth System Models. This PhD aims to develop a complete high-resolution hydrological reconstruction for Europe during the last two millennia. Special focus will be given in the major periods of long-term (decadal or longer) drought, also cited as mega-droughts, and their links with global atmospheric circulation and the hydrological cycle in general. The individual selected for this position should have a degree related to (paleo-) climatic studies or hydrology and will collaborate with researchers from Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ; Germany) and/or Global Institute of Water Security (GIWS; Canada).
Cook, E. R., Seager, R., Kushnir, Y., Briffa, K. R., Büntgen, U., Frank, D., ... & Baillie, M. (2015). Old World megadroughts and pluvials during the Common Era. Science Advances, 1(10), e1500561.