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), marine atmospheric boundary layer clouds, the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), the Hadley circulation, equatorial waves, tropical cyclones, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and tropical-extratropical interactions. 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.
We have an opening for a Ph,D, student to start Fall 2025 as a part of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program. The project seeks to better understand cloud structures in and surrounding the southern hemisphere branch of the ITCZ over the east Pacific Ocean with a long-term goal of alleviating the double ITCZ bias.
Recent News
In early June, Indrani Ganguly and Alex Gonzalez traveled to the State University of New York, University at Albany to present research at the 10th Northeast Tropical Workshop (https://www.atmos.albany.edu/facstaff/tang/NETropical/index.html). Indrani presented a poster entitled, “Investigating double-ITCZ biases in climate models: Role of daily-resolved air-sea interactions.” Alex presented a poster entitled, “Dynamical importance of the trade…
On April 20 and May 2, Alex was a guest lecturer on the topic, “Large-scale Boundary Layer Processes of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)” as a part of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program course entitled, “12.870 Air-Sea Interaction: Boundary Layers.”
On April 10, Alex Gonzalez traveled to Albany, NY to present a talk entitled, “Dynamical importance of the trade wind inversion in suppressing the southeast Pacific ITCZ” at the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences/Atmospheric Sciences Research Center Joint Colloquium.
;
Have you heard about #Tico, the endangered #manatee? After years of rehab with @OngAquasis , he was finally released into Brazilian waters. But soon, he got caught up in a fast-moving current.
📲 Follow Tico's 2,500-mile journey: http://go.whoi.edu/tico-pr
📹 Rachel Mann © WHOI
Have you heard about #Tico, the endangered #manatee? After years of rehab with @OngAquasis , he was finally released into Brazilian waters. But soon, he got caught up in a fast-moving current.
📲 Follow Tico's 2,500-mile journey: http://go.whoi.edu/tico-pr
📹 Rachel Mann © WHOI
🧵Paper or plastic? When it comes to #straws, both have serious drawbacks. That's why #WHOI scientists partnered with @EastmanChemCo to create a consumer-friendly #alternative to ocean-polluting #plastics.
🧵Paper or plastic? When it comes to #straws, both have serious drawbacks. That's why #WHOI scientists partnered with @EastmanChemCo to create a consumer-friendly #alternative to ocean-polluting #plastics.