International Research Fellowship Program: Impact of Land Atmosphere Interactions on Convection Associated with the West African Monsoon

[601817]加弗特国际研究奖学金项目使美国科学家和工程师能够到国外进行9至24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Matthew F. Garvert博士与Miguel a . Gaertner博士在西班牙托勒多的Castillo-La Mancha大学进行为期15个月的研究。这项研究将有助于确定陆地-大气相互作用对与西非季风（WAM）相关的对流的影响。大量研究已经表明，西非的土地和植被特性对WAM期间的对流有显著影响。然而，表面性质对湿对流物理过程和生命周期的影响仍缺乏清晰的认识。该研究利用高分辨率、最先进的数值模型和无与伦比的综合观测数据集来分析2006年西非夏季风的对流案例。目前正在使用PROMES （PROnostico a MESoescala）模式和ORCHIDEE动态全球植被模式对对流情况进行模式模拟。初始模拟使用土壤湿度、土壤类型、植被和其他地表参数的默认赋值。然后利用观测值修改模型的土壤和植被参数，进行敏感性测试。将这些敏感性模拟结果与参考模拟和大型观测资料集进行对比分析，重点讨论了陆-气相互作用对对流过程和降水分布的影响。另外的灵敏度测试侧重于数据同化对模拟对流的影响。该研究涉及PI与卡斯蒂利亚-拉曼查大学环境与气候建模小组（Grupo De Modelizacion Para el Medio Ambiente y el Clima - MOMAC）的Miguel Gaertner博士的密切合作。Gaertner博士在数值模型的开发和对流中土壤-大气相互作用的分析方面拥有丰富的第一手经验。Gaertner教授也是momac参与非洲季风多学科分析-欧盟（AMMA-EU）综合项目的首席研究员。AMMA的合作性质使PI与对流和数值模拟领域的一些最好的国际研究人员接触。

0601817GarvertThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a fifteen-month research fellowship by Dr. Matthew F. Garvert to work with Dr. Miguel A. Gaertner at University of Castillo-La Mancha, in Toldeo, Spain.This study will assist in determining the impact of land-atmosphere interactions on convection associated with the West African Monsoon (WAM). Numerous studies have already demonstrated that convection during the WAM is significantly influenced by land and vegetative properties of West Africa. Yet a clear understanding of the effects of surface properties on the physical processes and life cycles of moist convection is still lacking. The research utilizes a high resolution, state-of-the-art numerical model and an unparalleled, comprehensive observational data-set to analyze cases of convection from the 2006 West African summer monsoon. Model simulations of the convective cases are being performed with the PROMES (PROnostico a MESoescala) model coupled with the ORCHIDEE dynamic global vegetation model. Initial simulations use default assignments of soil moisture, soil types, vegetation and other surface parameters. Sensitivity tests are then performed by modifying the model's soil and vegetation parameters with observations. The results from these sensitivity simulations are analyzed against the reference simulation and the large observational data-set, with a focus on the effect of land-atmosphere interactions on convective processes and precipitation distributions. Additional sensitivity tests focus on the effect of data assimilation on the simulated convection. The research involves close collaboration between the PI and Dr. Miguel Gaertner from the Environment and Climate Modeling group (Grupo De Modelizacion Para el Medio Ambiente y el Clima - MOMAC) at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Dr. Gaertner has extensive first hand experience in the development of numerical models and the analysis of soil-atmosphere interactions on convection. Prof. Gaertner is also the Principal Investigator of MOMACs participation in the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses-European Union (AMMA-EU) Integrated Project. The collaborative nature of AMMA places the PI in contact with some of the best international researchers in the field of convection and numerical modeling.