The objective of this program is to understand the relationship between tropical atmospheric dynamics and global subseasonal to seasonal variability, with an emphasis placed on how tropical moist convective motions interact with the large-scale atmospheric circulation. Tropical-to-extratropical teleconnections originate with tropical precipitation, where the associated convective heating is balanced by upward motion leading to upper level divergent flow.  This divergence anomaly is a primary driver of Rossby waves that propagate to higher latitudes and therefore can modulate midlatitude weather. Tropical convective heating and dynamics often couple and organize at scales ranging from meso to planetary scales. The imprint of low-latitude moist convective motions on higher latitude variability depends on both their local organization and the state of the global atmosphere.

Research focuses on the statistical analysis of observational data and their interpretation, supplemented by analytical theory and modeling studies when appropriate. Chief observational resources include a broad suite of satellite measurements, globally analyzed data such as reanalysis products, and rawinsonde databases from archives or field programs. Modeling strategies range from experiments with idealized general circulation models to operational forecast systems. Current studies emphasize (1) dynamics of tropical convectively coupled waves; (2) the relationship between characteristics of tropical convective activity and the extratropical response, including their relationship to extreme events; (3) understanding the role of tropical waves as well as their extratropical responses on subseasonal global predictions.

key words

Tropical meteorology; Atmospheric waves; Atmospheric convection; Scale interactions;

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and non-U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants