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
In late July, Alex Gonzalez, along with WHOI scientists Magdalena Andres and Heather Furey, presented about the importance of atmosphere and ocean science on weather and climate to approximately 20 middle school and high school female divers from the Black Girls Dive Foundation (https://blackgirlsdivefoundation.org/). He also conducted a series of hands-on experiments demonstrating extratropical storms…
In July, Alex hosted the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory Atmosphere–Ocean Processes and Predictability Division weekly seminar virtually. His talk was entitled, “Dynamical importance of the trade wind inversion in suppressing the southeast Pacific ITCZ.”
Indrani was selected to attend the 2023 CESM tutorial held over the course of a week at NCAR in Boulder, Colorado. Participants were taught the basics of running the state-of-the-art climate model CESM2.
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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