Chapman Conference on Atmospheric Gravity Waves and their Effects on General Circulation and Climate; Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii; February 27-March 4, 2011

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This grant provides travel support for students and early-career scientists to attend a Chapman Conference on atmospheric gravity waves and their effect on the atmospheric general circulation and climate. Chapman conferences are topical metings held under the auspices of the American Geophysical Union to promote discussion of scientific issues on a deeper level than is possible at larger meetings. This conference would take place February 27-March 4 2011 at the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii (Manoa campus, Oahu). Motivation for the conference comes primarily from recent advances in satellite measurements and high-resolution modeling that have resulted in a surge of interest in research on gravity waves, since the spatial and temporal scales of gravity waves make them difficult to observe and study at the resolutions offered in traditional models and datasets. Despite their small scales, the effects of their heat and momentum transport on large-scale atmospheric circulation and the surface climate of the earth are thought to be significant, particularly in determining the strength of the polar vortex in the Northern Hemishere. These effects have been parameterized in climate and global atmospheric models for many years, but the parameterizations are not strongly constrained by observations and would benefit from more advanced observations and wave-resolving simulations.The grant has intellectual merit because the conference will provide a venue for examination of gravity waves and their impacts on atmospheric circulation and climate. The grant will have broader impacts by enabling the participation of students and early career scientists in the conference, thereby providing for the education and training of the next generation of scientists.