Tropical Deep Convection at Quasi-biennial and Annual Time Scales

本项目的目的是确定平流层准两年振荡（QBO）与热带深对流的关系程度。联合主要研究人员在一项初步研究中发现，将热带地区外发长波辐射（OLR）的年际变化与QBO的代用物（在新加坡测量的平流层纬向风）进行了比较。12年期间的相关性足够大，值得进一步探索。Drs。希契曼和马丁将把他们的研究时间延长到23年，并将调查是否可以发现地区差异。在研究过程中，他们将检查对流层顶附近的一些气象参数，希望能深入了解可能涉及的物理机制。他们将使用各种数据集：来自几个卫星仪器的OLR数据、高反射云数据、来自欧洲中期预测中心的标准气象分析和来自国家环境预测中心的再分析产品。这项研究的结果将有助于深入了解大尺度热带对流的性质，以及利用热带平流层风的状态进行区域热带对流长期预报的可能性。气候动力学和大规模动态气象学项目共同资助了该奖项。

The goal of this project is to ascertain the degree to which the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO) of the stratosphere and tropical deep convection are related. The co-principal investigators found in a preliminary study which compared interannual variations in outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) in the tropics with a proxy for the QBO, the stratospheric zonal winds measured at Singapore. The correlation for the 12-year period was large enough to warrant further exploration. Drs. Hitchman and Martin will extend the period of their study to 23 years and will also investigate whether regional differences can be detected. In the course of the study, they will examine a number of meteorological parameters near the tropopause with the hope of gaining insights into the possible physical mechanisms involved. They will use a variety of data sets: OLR data from several satellite instruments, Highly Reflective Cloud data, standard meteorological analyses from the European Centre for Medium Range Forecasting and reanalysis products from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The results of this study should provide insights into the nature of large-scale tropical convection and the possibility of using the state of the tropical stratospheric winds for long-range forecasting of tropical convection on a regional basis. The Climate Dynamics and Large-scale Dynamic Meteorology Programs jointly fund this award.