During the STSM, Thirza had the opportunity to collaborate closely with Katararina Merganicova. The main focus of the two week period was to prepare for the PROCLIAS summerschool which took place one week after the end of the STSM. During the summerschool, the students had to work with three different forest models, performing simulations for several sites and climate scenarios. As organizers we therefore had to prepare the simulations and harmonize the model initialization and input data as much as possible.  

Because of gaps in the locally observed climate data, we decided to use ISIMIP data as input for our models. The first task was therefore to prepare climate input data for different climate scenarios for the three models. After that, Thirza prepared all other input data for 4C, making it doable for the students to simulate all four sites in the short time they had available during the summerschool. Once the simulations were set up, she prepared the documentation and the manual for the students. She then also compiled a new executable compatible with a windows operating system, which was tested by Katarina.

Apart from working on the summer school, Thirza also used the opportunity to explore Zvolen and its beautiful surroundings. Katarina and her husband were the most wonderful hosts and made her two week stay a very enriching experience.

Thanks to the EU COST Association and COST Action CA19139 PROCLIAS for supporting this STSM.