Collaborative Research: Tropical Marine Climate Feedback to Mid- and High-Latitude Climate Change

本项目将进一步研究海洋热带辐合带的潜在温带控制及其对热带海洋气候和全球气候的影响。可行的假设是，海洋热带地区对温带影响很敏感，特别是通过类似于控制大西洋热带辐合带年际变率的机制。确定了四个具体问题：从温带冰和地形变化到热带的温带通讯机制是什么？热带热力和动力海洋-大气对这种联系的反馈是什么（例如，热带太平洋年循环和厄尔尼诺-南方涛动）？由此产生的全球气候对热带反馈的影响是什么？这项研究对过去和未来气候变化情景的潜在应用是什么？这些调查将主要作为模式研究进行，使用社区气候模式第3版，结合各种简化的表层海洋配置，包括减少重力的热带海洋模式。这是加州大学伯克利分校（University of California, Berkeley）和德州农工大学（Texas A&amp；M）研究小组的合作成果。两名研究生和一名博士后将获得资助，该项目将为本科生提供研究机会。预计这项工作将在对气候突变的理解方面取得进展。

This project will further research into the potential extratropical controls of the marine Intertropical Convergence Zone and consequences to the tropical marine climate and global climate. The working hypothesis is that the marine tropics are sensitive to extratropical influences, in particular through mechanisms similar to those controlling interannual variability of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone. Four specific questions are identified: What are the mechanisms of the extratropical communication to the tropics from changes to extratropical ice and topography? What are the tropical thermodynamic and dynamic ocean-atmosphere feedbacks to this linkage (e.g., the tropical Pacific annual cycle and El Nino-Southern Oscillation)? What are the resulting global climate impacts to the tropical feedback? What are the potential applications of this study to past and future climate change scenarios? These investigations will primarily be pursued as model studies using the Community Climate Model, version 3, coupled to various simplified surface ocean configurations, including a reduced-gravity tropical ocean model.This is a collaborative effort between research groups at the University of California, Berkeley and Texas A&M. Two graduate students and a postdoctoral associate will receive support, and the project will provide opportunities for undergraduate research. Advances in the understanding of abrupt climate change are anticipated from this work.