Prof. Dr. Jakob Zscheischler
Group Leader
Department of Computational Hydrosystems
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Permoserstr. 15
04318 Leipzig, Germany
Phone +49 341 6025-1885
Research Interests
I am an Earth system scientist with a background in mathematics, biogeochemistry and climate science. My research focus are compound weather and climate events, that is, combinations of climatic drivers that contribute to environmental and societal risk. I chaired the European COST Action DAMOCLES (Understanding and modeling compound climate and weather events, 2018-2023), which created a new community of climate scientists, engineers, social scientists, impact modellers and decision-makers to advance our understanding of compound events. In a recent review we propose four different types of compound events, with the goal to aid in compound event analysis. I’m also a Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at TU Dresden.
I’m leading the group on
Compound weather and climate events
at UFZ. In my Helmholtz Young Investigator project COMPOUNDX we use machine learning to identify compounding meteorological drivers of extreme impacts such as floods, vegetation mortality and crop failure.
Currently I am consulting editor of a Special Issue on "Compounding effects as drivers of extreme events in socio-ecological systems” in the Cell Press journal iScience (Link). Previously I edited an Inter-journal Special Issue on compound weather and climate events and related impacts in the EGU journals BG, ESD, HESS, NHESS
(Link)
and a Special Issue on compound events in Weather and Climate Extremes
(Link)
.
Career
| 3/2023- | Professor (W3) for Data Analytics in Hydro Sciences, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, TU Dresden |
| 10/2020- | Group Leader, Department of Computational Hydrosystems – UFZ |
| 11/2018-6/2021 | Ambizione Fellow, Climate and Environmental Physics, University of Bern, Switzerland |
| 2/2015-10/2018 | Postdoc, Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland |
| 6/2014-12/2014 | Postdoc, Department Biogeochemical Integration, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany |
| 10/2010-6/2014 | PhD student, Department Biogeochemical Integration, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany and Department Empirical Inference, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen, Germany |
Education
| 6/2014 | PhD, Environmental System Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland |
| 10/2010 | Diploma, Mathematics, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany |
Funding
| 2021-2025 | eXtreme events: Artificial Intelligence for Detection and Attribution ( XAIDA ) (WP leader, 430k€ out of 6M€) |
| 2021-2024 | Identifying causal drivers of floods (CausalFlood) (Co-PI, Helmholtz AI, 200k€ out of 400k€) with Jakob Runge |
| 2020-2026 | Helmholtz Young Investigator Grant COMPOUNDX, (PI, 1.8M€) |
| Completed | |
| 2019-2023 | Compound events in the ocean (co-PI, Alfred Bretsched Fund, ~185k€) |
| 2020-2023 | Risk assessment of critical ecological thresholds in Amazonia and Cerrado (PI, SNSF, ~230k€) |
| 2020-2022 | Machine learning for detecting compound climate drivers of extreme impacts (PI, SNSF, ~170k€) |
| 2018-2022 | New metrics for constraining multiple drivers of hazard and compound hazards (PI, SNSF Ambizione grant, ~757k€) |
Index:
You could use our publication index for further requests.
2023 (18)
- Bastos, A., Sippel, S., Frank, D., Mahecha, M.D., Zaehle, S., Zscheischler, J., Reichstein, M. (2023):
A joint framework for studying compound ecoclimatic events
Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 4 (5), 333 - 350
full text (doi) - Bevacqua, E., Suarez-Gutierrez, L., Jézéquel, A., Lehner, F., Vrac, M., Yiou, P., Zscheischler, J. (2023):
Advancing research on compound weather and climate events via large ensemble model simulations
Nat. Commun. 14 , art. 2145
full text (doi) - Fan, X., Miao, C., Zscheischler, J., Slater, L., Wu, Y., Chai, Y., AghaKouchak, A. (2023):
Escalating hot-dry extremes amplify compound fire weather risk
Earth Future 11 (11), e2023EF003976
full text (doi) - Fu, J., Jiang, Y., Wang, X., Li, L., Ciais, P., Zscheischler, J., Wang, Y., Tang, Y., Müller, C., Webber, H., Yang, B., Wu, Y., Wang, Q., Cui, X., Huang, W., Liu, Y., Zhao, P., Piao, S., Zhou, F. (2023):
Extreme rainfall reduces one-twelfth of China’s rice yield over the last two decades
Nat. Food 4 (5), 416 - 426
full text (doi) - García-García, A., Cuesta-Valero, F.J., Miralles, D.G., Mahecha, M., Quaas, J., Reichstein, M., Zscheischler, J., Peng, J. (2023):
Soil heat extremes can outpace air temperature extremes
Nat. Clim. Chang. 13 (11), 1237 - 1241
full text (doi) - Gu, L., Gentine, P., Wang, H.-M., Slater, L.J., Sullivan, S.C., Chen, J., Zscheischler, J., Guo, S. (2023):
Large anomalies in future extreme precipitation sensitivity driven by atmospheric dynamics
Nat. Commun. 14 , art. 3197
full text (doi) - Le Grix, N., Cheung, W.L., Reygondeau, G., Zscheischler, J., Frölicher, T.L. (2023):
Extreme and compound ocean events are key drivers of projected low pelagic fish biomass
Glob. Change Biol. 29 (23), 6478 - 6492
full text (doi) - Li, J., Bevacqua, E., Wang, Z., Sitch, S., Arora, V., Arneth, A., Jain, A.K., Goll, D., Tian, H., Zscheischler, J. (2023):
Hydroclimatic extremes contribute to asymmetric trends in ecosystem productivity loss
Commun. Earth Environ. 4 , art. 197
full text (doi) - Li, X., Piao, S., Huntingford, C., Peñuelas, J., Yang, H., Xu, H., Chen, A., Friedlingstein, P., Keenan, T.F., Sitch, S., Wang, X., Zscheischler, J., Mahecha, M.D. (2023):
Global variations in critical drought thresholds that impact vegetation
Natl. Sci. Rev. 10 (5), nwad049
full text (doi) - Lo, Y.T.E., Mitchell, D.M., Buzan, J.R., Zscheischler, J., Schneider, R., Mistry, M.N., Kyselý, J., Lavigne, É., Pereira da Silva, S., Royé, D., Urban, A., Armstrong, B., Gasparrini, A., Vicedo-Cabrera, A.M. (2023):
Optimal heat stress metric for modelling heat-related mortality varies from country to country
Int. J. Climatol. 43 (12), 5553 - 5568
full text (doi) - Mukherjee, S., Mishra, A.K., Zscheischler, J., Entekhabi, D. (2023):
Interaction between dry and hot extremes at a global scale using a cascade modeling framework
Nat. Commun. 14 , art. 277
full text (doi) - Qian, C., Ye, Y., Bevacqua, E., Zscheischler, J. (2023):
Human influences on spatially compounding flooding and heatwave events in China and future increasing risks
Weather Clim. Extremes 42 , art. 100616
full text (doi) - Sweet, L.-B., Müller, C., Anand, M., Zscheischler, J. (2023):
Cross-validation strategy impacts the performance and interpretation of machine learning models
Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems (AIES) 2 (4), e230026
full text (doi) - Tschumi, E., Lienert, S., Bastos, A., Ciais, P., Gregor, K., Joos, F., Knauer, J., Papastefanou, P., Rammig, A., van der Wiel, K., Williams, K., Xu, Y., Zaehle, S., Zscheischler, J. (2023):
Large variability in simulated response of vegetation composition and carbon dynamics to variations in drought-heat occurrence
J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeosci. 128 (4), e2022JG007332
full text (doi) - van den Hurk, B.J.J.M., White, J.C., Ramos, A.M., Ward, P.J., Martius, O., Olbert, I., Roscoe, K., Goulart, H.M.D., Zscheischler, J. (2023):
Consideration of compound drivers and impacts in the disaster risk reduction cycle
iScience 26 (3), art. 106030
full text (doi) - Westra, S., Zscheischler, J. (2023):
Accounting for systemic complexity in the assessment of climate risk
One Earth 6 (6), 645 - 655
full text (doi) - Yang, H., Munson, S.M., Huntingford, C., Carvalhais, N., Knapp, A.K., Li, X., Peñuelas, J., Zscheischler, J., Chen, A. (2023):
The detection and attribution of extreme reductions in vegetation growth across the global land surface
Glob. Change Biol. 29 (8), 2351 - 2362
full text (doi) - Zhang, B., Wang, S., Zscheischler, J., Moradkhani, H. (2023):
Higher exposure of poorer people to emerging weather whiplash in a warmer world
Geophys. Res. Lett. 50 (21), e2023GL105640
full text (doi)
Index:
You could use our publication index for further requests.
2022 (14)
- Bevacqua, E., Zappa, G., Lehner, F., Zscheischler, J. (2022):
Precipitation trends determine future occurrences of compound hot–dry events
Nat. Clim. Chang. 12 (4), 350 - 355
full text (doi) - Boulaguiem, Y., Zscheischler, J., Vignotto, E., van der Wiel, K., Engelke, S. (2022):
Modeling and simulating spatial extremes by combining extreme value theory with generative adversarial networks
Environ. Data Sci. 1 , e5
full text (doi) - Guo, X., Gao, Y., Zhang, S., Wu, L., Chang, P., Cai, W., Zscheischler, J., Leung, L.R., Small, J., Danabasoglu, G., Thompson, L., Gao, H. (2022):
Threat by marine heatwaves to adaptive large marine ecosystems in an eddy-resolving model
Nat. Clim. Chang. 12 (2), 179 - 186
full text (doi) - Jiang, S., Bevacqua, E., Zscheischler, J. (2022):
River flooding mechanisms and their changes in Europe revealed by explainable machine learning
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 26 (24), 6339 - 6359
full text (doi) - Le Grix, N., Zscheischler, J., Rodgers, K.B., Yamaguchi, R., Frölicher, T.L. (2022):
Hotspots and drivers of compound marine heatwaves and low net primary production extremes
Biogeosciences 19 (24), 5807 - 5835
full text (doi) - Li, J., Bevacqua, E., Chen, C., Wang, Z., Chen, X., Myneni, R.B., Wu, X., Xu, C.-Y., Zhang, Z., Zscheischler, J. (2022):
Regional asymmetry in the response of global vegetation growth to springtime compound climate events
Commun. Earth Environ. 3 , art. 123
full text (doi) - Marcolongo, A., Vladymyrov, M., Lienert, S., Peleg, N., Haug, S., Zscheischler, J. (2022):
Predicting years with extremely low gross primary production from daily weather data using Convolutional Neural Networks
Environ. Data Sci. 1 , e2
full text (doi) - Orth, R., O, S., Zscheischler, J., Mahecha, M.D., Reichstein, M. (2022):
Contrasting biophysical and societal impacts of hydro-meteorological extremes
Environ. Res. Lett. 17 (1), art. 014044
full text (doi) - Ribeiro, A.F.S., Brando, P.M., Santos, L., Rattis, L., Hirschi, M., Hauser, M., Seneviratne, S.I., Zscheischler, J. (2022):
A compound event-oriented framework to tropical fire risk assessment in a changing climate
Environ. Res. Lett. 17 (6), art. 065015
full text (doi) - Tschumi, E., Lienert, S., van der Wiel, K., Joos, F., Zscheischler, J. (2022):
A climate database with varying drought-heat signatures for climate impact modelling
Geosci. Data J. 9 (1), 154 - 166
full text (doi) - Tschumi, E., Lienert, S., van der Wiel, K., Joos, F., Zscheischler, J. (2022):
The effects of varying drought-heat signatures on terrestrial carbon dynamics and vegetation composition
Biogeosciences 19 (7), 1979 - 1993
full text (doi) - Tuel, A., Schaefli, B., Zscheischler, J., Martius, O. (2022):
On the links between sub-seasonal clustering of extreme precipitation and high discharge in Switzerland and Europe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 26 (10), 2649 - 2669
full text (doi) - Zscheischler, J., Lehner, F. (2022):
Attributing compound events to anthropogenic climate change
Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc. 103 (3), E936 - E953
full text (doi) - Zscheischler, J., Sillmann, J., Alexander, L. (2022):
Introduction to the special issue: Compound weather and climate events
Weather Clim. Extremes 35 , art. 100381
full text (doi)
2021 (14)
- Bevacqua, E., De Michele, C., Manning, C., Couasnon, A., Ribeiro, A.F.S., Ramos, A.M., Vignotto, E., Bastos, A., Blesić, S., Durante, F., Hillier, J., Oliveira, S.C., Pinto, J.G., Ragno, E., Rivoire, P., Saunders, K., van der Wiel, K., Wu, W., Zhang, T., Zscheischler, J. (2021):
Guidelines for studying diverse types of compound weather and climate events
Earth Future 9 (11), e2021EF002340
full text (doi) - Gampe, D., Zscheischler, J., Reichstein, M., O’Sullivan, M., Smith, W.K., Sitch, S., Buermann, W. (2021):
Increasing impact of warm droughts on northern ecosystem productivity over recent decades
Nat. Clim. Chang. 11 (9), 772 - 779
full text (doi) - Le Grix, N., Zscheischler, J., Laufkötter, C., Rousseaux, C.S., Frölicher, T.L. (2021):
Compound high-temperature and low-chlorophyll extremes in the ocean over the satellite period
Biogeosciences 18 (6), 2119 - 2137
full text (doi) - Lesk, C., Coffel, E., Winter, J., Ray, D., Zscheischler, J., Seneviratne, S.I., Horton, R. (2021):
Stronger temperature–moisture couplings exacerbate the impact of climate warming on global crop yields
Nat. Food 2 (9), 683 - 691
full text (doi) - Li, J., Wang, Z., Wu, X., Zscheischler, J., Guo, S., Chen, X. (2021):
A standardized index for assessing sub-monthly compound dry and hot conditions with application in China
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 25 (3), 1587 - 1601
full text (doi) - Messori, G., Bevacqua, E., Caballero, R., Coumou, D., De Luca, P., Faranda, D., Kornhuber, K., Martius, O., Pons, F., Raymond, C., Ye, K., Yiou, P., Zscheischler, J. (2021):
Compound climate events and extremes in the midlatitudes: Dynamics, simulation, and statistical characterization
Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc. 102 (4), E774 - E781
full text (doi) - Sillmann, J., Shepherd, T.G., van den Hurk, B., Hazeleger, W., Martius, O., Slingo, J., Zscheischler, J. (2021):
Event‐based storylines to address climate risk
Earth Future 9 (2), e2020EF001783
full text (doi) - Van de Walle, J., Thiery, W., Brogli, R., Martius, O., Zscheischler, J., van Lipzig, N.P.M. (2021):
Future intensification of precipitation and wind gust associated thunderstorms over Lake Victoria
Weather Clim. Extremes 34 , art. 100391
full text (doi) - Vignotto, E., Engelke, S., Zscheischler, J. (2021):
Clustering bivariate dependencies of compound precipitation and wind extremes over Great Britain and Ireland
Weather Clim. Extremes 32 , art. 100318
full text (doi) - Villalobos-Herrera, R., Bevacqua, E., Ribeiro, A.F.S., Auld, G., Crocetti, L., Mircheva, B., Ha, M., Zscheischler, J., De Michele, C. (2021):
Towards a compound-event-oriented climate model evaluation: a decomposition of the underlying biases in multivariate fire and heat stress hazards
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 21 (6), 1867 - 1885
full text (doi) - Vogel, J., Rivoire, P., Deidda, C., Rahimi, L., Sauter, C.A., Tschumi, E., van der Wiel, K., Zhang, T., Zscheischler, J. (2021):
Identifying meteorological drivers of extreme impacts: an application to simulated crop yields
Earth Syst. Dynam. 12 (1), 151 - 172
full text (doi) - Whan, K., Zscheischler, J., Jordan, A.I., Ziegel, J.F. (2021):
Novel multivariate quantile mapping methods for ensemble post-processing of medium-range forecasts
Weather Clim. Extremes 32 , art. 100310
full text (doi) - Woolway, R.I., Kraemer, B.M., Zscheischler, J., Albergel, C. (2021):
Compound hot temperature and high chlorophyll extreme events in global lakes
Environ. Res. Lett. 16 (12), art. 124066
full text (doi) - Zscheischler, J., Naveau, P., Martius, O., Engelke, S., Raible, C.C. (2021):
Evaluating the dependence structure of compound precipitation and wind speed extremes
Earth Syst. Dynam. 12 (1), 1 - 16
full text (doi)
Honours
| 2022 | Highly Cited Researcher (Web of Science / Thomson Reuters, top 1% cited papers) |
| 2022 | Arne Richter Award, European Geosciences Union |
| 2021 | Highly Cited Researcher (Web of Science / Thomson Reuters, top 1% cited papers) |
| 2015 | Vladimir Peter Köppen Award, Universität Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence “Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction“ (CliSAP) |
| 2014 |
Otto Hahn Medal, Max Planck Society |