About the Lab
Welcome to the tropical climate dynamics research group at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)! We are interested in atmospheric and oceanic processes in the tropics and their interactions with higher latitudes. We study a variety of topics, including the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), the Hadley circulation, equatorial waves, tropical cyclones, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and tropical-extratropical teleconnection patterns. One of our primary goals is to improve understanding of observations of these complex phenomena using a hierarchy of models and observations. With this improved understanding, weather and climate prediction can be guided in the right direction.
We are also involved in science education and outreach, particularly at WHOI and in the local Cape Cod community. From bringing hands-on rotating tank climate science experiments to K–12 and college classrooms to mentoring middle- and high-school students and teachers on research projects, we strive to motivate a generation of future scientists.
Recent News
On December 6, Alex and co-authors (Lisan Yu, Yanxu Chen, Chidong Zhang, and Gregory R. Foltz) published a paper entitled, “Dry Air Outbreak and Significant Surface Turbulent Heat Loss During Hurricane Ian: Satellite and Saildrone Observations” in Geophysical Research Letters: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023GL105583. Congrats, Alex! The three key points of the paper are: Hurricane Ian triggered a…
On November 9, Alex was a guest lecturer discussing the topic: “Large-scale atmospheric dynamics and relation to extreme storms” as a part of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program course entitled, “12.757 Climate Change Science: Extreme Events in a Warming World.”
On November 8, Alex traveled to the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to host a talk entitled, “Dynamical Importance of the Trade Wind Inversion in Suppressing the Southeast Pacific ITCZ,” as a part of the weekly Sack Lunch Seminar Series.