Workshop on Intraseasonal Processes and Prediction in the Maritime Continent
[This webpage was last updated on 5 Apr 2016.]
Background
The Maritime Continent (MC) is a region of complex topography and land-sea distributions characterized by multiscale precipitation variability, and representing a major diabatic heat source for the atmosphere. Multiple atmospheric and oceanic phenomena interact in the MC in ways that are not well understood, a fact that has helped to motivate the proposed Years of the Maritime Continent (YMC) field program. The rich diversity of processes and unrealistic representation of these processes in numerical weather and climate models makes prediction of the region’s precipitation and its global impacts a substantial challenge. The Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) is one phenomenon characterized by rich multiscale interactions in the MC region, including interactions with the diurnal cycle, synoptic disturbances, monsoons, interannual variability, the land surface and the ocean. Many climate and forecasting models have difficulty propagating the MJO across the MC and simulating its interactions with other phenomena, which may limit not only local precipitation forecasting skill, but also prediction skill at higher latitudes that depends on teleconnections to MC diabatic heating. Improving model MJO simulations will enable improved local subseasonal forecasts of monsoon onset and termination, monsoon active and break spells, floods/drought at sub-island scales, and variability in diurnal circulations in regions of significant topography. A joint research effort between the WMO Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Prediction Project and WGNE MJO Task Force has recently been formed to address interactions between the MJO and the MC with the goal of improving weather forecasts and climate model simulations of the MJO and related phenomena.
Workshop on Intraseasonal Processes and Prediction in the Maritime Continent
To assess the state of our knowledge and to identify emerging research priorities in these areas, we will hold a workshop for about 100 local and international participants on “Intraseasonal Processes and Prediction in the Maritime Continent” on 11-13 April 2016 in Singapore. Participation is by invitation only.
Agenda
The goal of the workshop is to advance understanding of MJO-MC interactions with the intention of improving subseasonal prediction in the MC and globally. The agenda will be devoted to MJO interactions with the MC and will contain sessions in the following areas:
• Interactions of the MJO in the MC region with:
– Diurnal cycle
– Synoptic variability
– The monsoons
– ENSO
– The land surface
– The ocean
• NWP and climate model simulations of subseasonal variability in the MC region, focusing on:
– Model bias and other errors
– Subseasonal prediction
Download the agenda here (updated 5 April 2016).
Poster Presentations
Please note that posters should be A1-sized and can be in either portrait or landscape format.
Administrative Information
This workshop will be hosted by the Meteorological Service of Singapore (MSS), who will also be sponsoring the local costs of hosting. The workshop will be held at the Theatrette (level 4), Environment Building, 40 Scotts Road, Singapore 228231.
Participants will be expected to arrange and fund their own travel including airfare, accommodation, meals and local transportation. Please refer to the Information Note and a list of nearby hotels for accommodation.
Organising Committees
International Organising Committee: Tieh-Yong Koh (SIM Univ), Eric Maloney (Colorado State Univ), Tetsuo Nakazawa (S2S ICO), Andrew Robertson (IRI), Frederic Vitart (ECMWF), Duane Waliser (NASA JPL), Steve Woolnough (U of Reading), Chidong Zhang (U of Miami)
Local Organising Committee: Chris Gordon (MSS), Chee-Kiat Teo (Nanyang Technological Univ), Tieh-Yong Koh (SIM Univ), Krysania Tan (MSS), Chloe Lim (MSS)