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Regional climate dynamics and remote tropical influences for subtropical eastern oceanic boundaries
James C. McWilliams, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA; and X. Capet, F. Colas, A. Hall, W. Large, and G. Danabasoglu
The eastern boundary region of the subtropical oceans and the adjacent continental zones have distinctive phenomena in their persistent alongshore winds, sharp marine-terrestrial climate transitions, extensive stratus cloud decks, strong upwelling and alongshore currents, and rapid oceanic biogeochemical throughput. In this talk we will analyze this regional climate dynamics with particular attention to South America near Peru and Chile. An important functioning in this regime is the flow of heat between the oceanic interior and lower atmosphere and between the marine and terrestrial zones, and its mechanisms will be analyzed. In addition, there is remote sensitivity in global model solutions to the eastern-boundary region, especially in the structure and intensity of tropical rainfall. Typically this regime is poorly modeled in global climate models. A strategy is presented for regional--global embedded modeling to better represent and understand these behaviors.
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Session 2, VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Studies (VOCALS) I
Monday, 30 January 2006, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM, A309
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