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
From December 12–16, Alex Gonzalez, Indrani Ganguly, and Fouzia Fahrin traveled to the 2022 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting in Chicago, IL to present about their research and teaching/outreach activities. Alex had a poster presentation entitled, “Case studies of double and northern hemisphere east Pacific ITCZs: Impacts of boundary layer depth and free troposphere momentum…
On October 17, Alex Gonzalez gave an invited talk at a symposium at UCLA in honor of the late Professor Akio Arakawa: Modeling Convection, Clouds and Climate Systems. Alex’s talk was entitled, “Wind-Evaporation-SST feedbacks and the southeast Pacific Ocean ITCZ.” The recorded presentation can be seen below.
During July 2022, Alex Gonzalez and Indrani Ganguly (and the DIYnamics team) co-convened a session at the eighth annual Earth Educators’ Rendezvous in Minneapolis, MN this July entitled, “Teaching atmosphere, ocean, and planetary fluid dynamic fundamentals vividly with rotating tanks.” (https://serc.carleton.edu/earth_rendezvous/2022/program/morning_workshops/w9/index.html). There were approximately 25 participants in their session, with 5–10 from underrepresented groups/minority serving…
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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