2A UKF: International Atmospheric Research over the Adriatic
Project leader: Zeljka Fuchs at zeljka _at_ pmfst.hr
ABSTRACT
The economic and scientific goal of the project is creating and strengthening the international group of researchers that will study fluid dynamics over the Adriatic in Croatia. As the first step towards realization of the project The First Split Workshop in Atmospheric Physics and Oceanography took place where the best scientists held lectures on a Ph.D. level and discussed the plans for our future research project.
Local processes influence the accuracy of weather forecasting.The goal is to get a better understanding of local processes over the Adriatic connected to local convection. In particular the dependence between precipitation rate and saturation fraction that has not been studied in middle latitudes is investigated..
The full model for equatorial convectively coupled waves was tested in the laboratory of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. This work has led to many discoveries regarding Madden-Julian oscillation, Kelvin waves as well as to better understanding of local convection.
MILESTONES AND OUTCOME
May 22 to 30, 2009, Split: First Split Workshop in Atmospheric Physics and Oceanography (First Split Workshop in Atmospheric Physics and Oceanography SWAP) Press release: Conference In Croatia Has Strong New Mexico Tech Ties . The most prominent scientists in atmospheric physics and oceanography gave lectures to graduate students and participated in discussions of future plans for a research group studying weather conditions over the Adriatic. The Workshop was a huge success, evaluations and comments are on its web site. There is a big interest in the second workshop as well as in ongoing collaboration with the main applicant.
June 8 to 12, 2009, Vermont, USA: Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics Meeting (AMETSOC Conference)
Successful meeting not only for obtaining a first-hand feel on what is going on in our field besides our own research, but in networking as well. Our Socorro-Split group here widened a circle of best researchers (formed at SWAP) interested in a long-term project for the Croatian Adriatic. Half of the people who attended the meeting were already familiar with SWAP and asked when is the next one. From Boulder to Harvard and Vermont, Croatia has been presented in the best light possible. The main applicant got invited for a visit to a prestigious meteorological center in Boulder at their expense. The connections were strengthened on EU front leading to joined EU COST proposal. This visit also included a presentation of my current work done as a part of my research with Dave Raymond (full model for large-scale modes coupled with convection on a beta plane). Direct outcome are two presentations:
* Fuchs, Z., S. Sessions, and D. J. Raymond, 2009: Comparison of the Analytical and Numerical Model for Convectively Coupled Gravity Waves. 17th Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics. 8-12 June 2009, Stowe, VT, USA
* Raymond, D. J., S. Sessions, and Z. Fuchs, 2009: Control of convective precipitation over warm tropical oceans. 17th Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics. 8-12 June 2009, Stowe, VT, USA.June 23 to July 22, 2009: New Mexico Tech, USA
Lots of research was done at the host organization, NMT. Our group (Raymond, Sessions, Lopez, myself and the graduate students) tested my model of convectively coupled large scale modes on a beta plane on a cluster (64 nodes continues time provided by NMT) by running the numerical simulations. We modeled the Kelvin waves and the moisture modes that might be associated with the Madden-Julian oscillation. I have presented to Socorro group my latest work in precipitation rate dependence on saturation fraction over Croatia which is now being expanded to whole Europe.
July 14 to 15, 2009, Boulder, USA: Visit to NCAR and NOAA
The main applicant went to Boulder, Colorado and visited National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at their expense. We have discussed further collaborations in Croatia as well as the States. The main applicant got invited to spend any summer doing research in Boulder.
July, 2009, Split: The COST Action proposal for EU funding
The COST Action proposal for EU funding was submitted (COST Project). The main applicant is in the Management Committee of the proposed action. We have entered the final round of evaluations.October, 16 to 17, 2009: Harvard University, USA
The main applicant was asked to participate in a workshop and to give the invited talk on her latest discoveries in convection ( Harvard Workshop). The cost of the trip was fully covered by the Harvard University.* Fuchs, Z., David J. Raymond and Sharon L. Sessions, 2009: Convectively coupled gravity waves and moisture modes. Workshop on Large-Scale Circulations in Moist Convecting Atmospheres. Harvard University. October 16-17, 2009. Cambridge, MA, USA.
October 28 to November 14, 2009: New Mexico Tech, USA
We have submitted our work on modeling the large-scale disturbances on beta plane, tropical convection etc. to National Science Foundation (NSF) for funding. The main applicant is a part of this application. More papers on our latest research are on its way. We have discussed further steps in including Croatia and its young researchers into international community as well as the next steps towards the international project for Croatian Adriatic.
Published peer-reviewed papers during the project
* Raymond, D. J., S. Sessions, A. H. Sobel, Z. Fuchs, 2009: The Mechanics of Gross Moist Stability. J. Adv. Model Earth Syst., Vol. 1, 20 pp.
* Raymond, D. J., and Z. Fuchs, 2009: Moisture modes and the Madden-Julian oscillation. J. Climate, 22, 3031-3046. * Doklestic, D., Z. Fuchs and A. Marki, 2009: Convectively coupled Kelvin waves and convective inhibition. Geophysics, In press.
BOOKS
Fuchs, Z: Physics of the Tropical Atmosphere, VDM. 2009. ISBN: 978-3-639-21572-4