Camilla F. Brunello

AS Atmospheric Sciences

The 2017 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Camilla F. Brunello for the poster/PICO entitled:

Decadal record of monsoon dynamics in the High Himalayas-Tibetan plateau transition zone using tree ring data (Brunello, C. F.; Andermann, C.; Helle, G.; Comiti, F.; Tonon, G.; Ventura, M.; Hovius, N.)

Click here to download the poster/PICO file.

How often and how far has the Indian Summer Monsoon penetrated into the trans-Himalayan region over the last century? This is the question I am investigating as a Phd student affiliated with the Helmholtz Zentrum – GFZ Potsdam, Germany, and registered at the Free University of Bozen Bolzano, Italy.
In complex mountainous environments, I strive to reconstruct spatial variations in orographic rainfall and moisture pathways, which can be used to link the atmosphere and land surface to hydroclimatic processes. Because instrumental records, in remote mountainous areas, are usually sparse and only cover a limited time period, I use oxygen stable isotope ratios in wood cellulose of tree-rings, which prove to be a highly sensitive hydro-climatic proxy.
The awarded poster contribution provides the first insights into the relationships among tree-ring width, cellulose isotopes and monsoon signature, shedding light on decadal variations of precipitation in the high-elevated arid area of the High Himalayas.