干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

An extreme environment is defined as one that is lightly populated and has minimal agricultural potential because it is impacted by one or more extreme climatic or hydrologic processes such as wind, temperature, precipitation, etc. if Antarctica represents the upper boundary of an extreme environment on Earth, it is not clear where the lower boundary should be drawn. Not all extreme environments are contiguous with Polar Regions, as islands with extremes exist at all latitudes such as deserts and rain forests. What are the temporal criteria for extreme environments? In some regions, extreme conditions are only seasonal such as a cold winter. Some areas only experience extreme events for short periods of time such as minutes (tornadoes) or a few days (hurricanes), although these events may occur at any time over a period of months. Population growth, climate change, temporal and spatial variability of hydrologic processes and perceived excess water resources (for transport elsewhere) are all reasons why there is a renewed interest in these environments. Unfortunately these areas have been rigorously neglected in terms of water related research and both hydrologic and meteorological data collection until recently. Sparse data networks, short station durations and poorly distributed stations are typical for extreme environments. The quality of the data collected is often much less than that desired. The role of this conference is to bring water resource related professionals that work in extreme environments together in a common forum to address problems and progress.