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.
Recent News
Undergraduate student, James Larson, won a Student Experiential Opportunities award through the Iowa Space Grant Consortium for January through June 2020. James will be assessing the accuracy of the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) in simulating sub-monthly shifts in the eastern Pacific Ocean Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) for October 2009-March 2010. Congrats and welcome to our research group,…
Undergraduate student, Melissa Piper, won the 2019 Outstanding Senior Thesis Award on her research entitled, “Evaluating Hurricane Harvey’s Rapid Intensification and Precipitation in the ERA5 Reanalysis.”
Ph.D. student, Indrani Ganguly, won the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) NCAR’s Advanced Study Program’s Graduate Student Fellowship for summer 2020. Indrani will be working with Dr. Richard Neale in the Climate and Global Dynamics Division conducting research on double ITCZ biases in climate models through hindcast simulations. Congrats, Indrani!
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Many marine gastropods, including conchs and sea slugs, spend their early lives as plankton. Translucent membranes called velum help them maintain buoyancy and capture food particles, but disappear once the animal becomes a bottom-dweller.
📸 by Jialing Cai/homoplankton.com
Many marine gastropods, including conchs and sea slugs, spend their early lives as plankton. Translucent membranes called velum help them maintain buoyancy and capture food particles, but disappear once the animal becomes a bottom-dweller.
📸 by Jialing Cai/homoplankton.com
Like many of us "of a certain age," there are rumors about whether or not #Alvin has had any work done... after all, the deep sea sub doesn't exactly look 60!
📣 Find out all you ever wanted to know (and more) about ALVIN: http://go.whoi.edu/alvin60
Like many of us "of a certain age," there are rumors about whether or not #Alvin has had any work done... after all, the deep sea sub doesn't exactly look 60!
📣 Find out all you ever wanted to know (and more) about ALVIN: http://go.whoi.edu/alvin60