Diverse low mountain ranges shape the INTERKLIM project region. From the southwest up to the northeast the Elster Mountains and the Vogtland, the Ore Mountains, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, the Lusatian and the Zittau Mountains are marking the border area of Saxony and the Czech Republic – the INTERKLIM project region. The respective orographic conditions influence the climatic setting in the individual regions. Particularly the location and arrangement of the Ore Mountains has a major effect on large-scale circulation patterns regarding their regional climatic characteristics (luv and lee effects). Concerning climate change this orographic and climatic complexity requires for a sustainable, scientific sound and transboundary environmental management.
From southwest to northeast the INTERKLIM project region comprises the three Saxon planning regions Chemnitz, Upper Elbe Valley/Eastern Ore Mountains and Upper Lusatia-Lower Silesia and the Czech administrative regions Karlovy Vary, Ústà nad Labem and Liberec.