The 14th Conference on the Middle Atmosphere, sponsored by the American Meteorological Society and organized by the AMS Committee on the Middle Atmosphere, will be held 20-24 August 2007 at the Doubletree Hotel-Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon. The conference will be held in conjunction with the 15th Conference on Air-Sea Interaction. For additional meeting information, including registration and hotels, please check the AMS Web site (http://www.ametsoc.org/meet/fainst/200715isa14m.html) .
Papers are solicited in all areas of middle atmosphere science (from the upper troposphere through the mesosphere). We seek a balanced program of observational studies, modeling and theory. In additional to a general middle atmosphere session, eight special sessions are planned. The special session descriptions and conveners’ contact are given below.
Convener: Andrew Gettelman, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Andrew@ucar.edu, 303-497-1887.
Invited Speakers:
Dr. Byron Boville dedicated a good part of his career to the middle atmosphere, and especially middle atmosphere modeling. This session is in honor of Byron's contributions and in recognition of his spirit and character. We welcome and encourage contributions in the following areas on which Byron did a lot of work and which interested him. (1) Contributions discussing the present state of modeling in the middle atmosphere. (2) Contributions that address future challenges and directions in such modeling. Byron was especially interested in dynamics, gravity waves, stratosphere-troposphere coupling, as well as leading efforts towards coupled chemistry-climate modeling of the middle atmosphere. We welcome contributions in these and other similar areas.
Co-Conveners:
Invited Speakers:
The joint AMS conference on Air-Sea Interactions and the Middle Atmosphere provides a unique opportunity for discussing the interactions across three major components of the earth system: the ocean, troposphere and the stratosphere. While ocean-troposphere and troposphere-stratosphere coupling have been widely investigated, the impact of including coupling with the third component on climate variability is not well understood.
We welcome contributions from observational, numerical and theoretical perspectives that examine 1) the effect of ocean on the troposphere/middle atmosphere, 2) the impact of radiative and dynamical changes in the middle atmosphere on the troposphere/ocean, and 3) the processes involved in coupling between the troposphere with its upper (stratosphere) and lower boundaries (ocean) that are relevant for the connection between ocean and middle atmosphere.
Phenomena of interest include (but are not limited to): the impact of ENSO on the middle atmosphere circulation; stratosphere-troposphere-ocean coupling associated with the annular modes; the simulation of middle atmosphere dynamics and its influence on air-sea interactions, the effects of solar variability on climate via air-sea and stratosphere-troposphere coupling; the impact of anthropogenic forcing on the ocean-troposphere-middle atmosphere system; and the relative roles of the ocean and the stratosphere on the predictability of extra-tropical weather and climate.
Convener: Linnea Avallone, University of Colorado, avallone@lasp.colorado.edu, 303-492-5913.
Invited Speakers:
A number of recent studies have attempted to refine the date by which the Antarctic "ozone hole" is expected to recover, and many others have noted the changing pattern and rate of mid-latitude ozone loss. In this session, we invite papers that focus on improved understanding of any aspect of stratospheric chemistry, especially as that relates to calculating ozone loss and recovery in the mid-latitudes and polar regions.
Co- Conveners:
Invited Speakers:
Several recent field campaigns have been conducted in the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL), including several aircraft campaigns based out of Costa Rica, Brazil and Australia. In addition, we now have unprecedented satellite coverage of the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) and TTL, with the addition of CloudSat and CALIPSO cloud information to the information provided by other satellites.
In this session we seek to understand what these new observations are telling us about the TTL. We invite papers on both observational and model studies of the (TTL). We specially invite new results that utilize these new observations from field campaigns and satellites, and combine them with each other or with models to provide new insights into important microphysical, dynamic and chemical processes in the TTL that impact the middle atmosphere.
Convener: Laura Pan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, liwen@ucar.edu, 303-497-1467.
Invited Speakers:
We invite papers on both observational and model studies of the physics and chemistry of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) in the extratropics. We especially encourage studies that combine models, field observations, data from multiple satellite platforms and laboratory studies to provide new insights into the processes controlling the region and contributing to chemistry-climate interactions. Research topics include but not limited to: 1) relative roles of transport and in situ chemistry on chemical composition; 2) transport between the tropical UT and extratropical LS; 3) role of multiple-scale dynamics and mixing; 4) controlling mechanisms of the tropopause and extratropical transition layer.
Convener: Stephen Eckermann, Naval Research Laboratory, stephen.eckermann@nrl.navy.mil, 202-404-1299.
Invited Speakers:
This session welcomes papers on all aspects of gravity waves pertaining to the middle atmosphere. Topics include, but are not restricted to: 1) satellite and suborbital observations of wave properties; 2) characterization of sources; 3) resolved gravity waves in general circulation models, numerical weather prediction systems and mesoscale models; 4) parameterizations of the effects of unresolved gravity waves on resolved scales, and their use and performance in climate and weather models; 5) observations, theories, and direct numerical simulations of gravity wave breaking, transition to turbulence, wave-wave interactions, and wave energy spectra; 6) direct and indirect influences of gravity waves on clouds and chemistry.
In all these areas, we particularly encourage validation studies that attempt to compare observations of gravity waves or gravity wave-induced effects on the middle atmosphere with the predictions of relevant theories, models or parameterizations.
Convener: Fabrizio Sassi, National Center for Atmospheric Research, sassi@ucar.edu, 303-497-1872.
Invited Speakers:
Papers are solicited that investigate dynamical interactions between the tropics and the extratropics in the middle atmosphere, from the tropopause through the mesopause. Both theoretical and observational studies are welcome. The main focus areas are: the effects of tropical wind oscillations (quasi-biennial and semiannual oscillations) on the climatology of the high latitudes; the role of the tropics in communicating solar forcing to high latitudes; general characteristics of stratospheric sudden warmings, including their forcing mechanisms, and improvements to their simulation in general circulation models; the role of planetary waves in high and low latitude interactions; the mean meridional circulation as a vehicle to communicate changes globally.
Co-Conveners:
Invited Speakers:
Datasets from satellite and ground-based instruments are beginning to show sufficient quality and length for providing estimates of long-term changes in the middle atmosphere, both its structure and its composition. The interannual, solar cycle, and trend terms found from the various data time series are being compared with those from simulations with multi-dimensional climate/chemistry models. Papers are solicited that address one or more aspects of the observations and/or model studies. Areas of data/model agreement are sought. Where data/model disagreements can be quantified, it is hoped that the authors will suggest further observations and/or model improvements that will be helpful in guiding this research community.
The deadline for online abstract submission is 25 March 2007 at http://www.ametsoc.org/meet/online_submit.html. An abstract fee of $70 (payable by credit card or purchase order) will be charged at the time of submission (refundable only if the abstract is not accepted). When submitting your abstract, please indicate your preference for an oral or poster presentation. Authors of accepted presentations will be notified via e-mail by 25 April 2007. No preprint volume is planned.
For further information, please contact the program chairperson, Laura Pan (Email: liwen@ucar.edu, Tel: 303-497-1467).