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 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.
During July 2023, Alex Gonzalez and the DIYnamics team co-convened a session at the ninth annual Earth Educators’ Rendezvous (EER) in Pasadena, CA entitled, “Teaching Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate Dynamics with Interactive Demonstrations.” (https://serc.carleton.edu/earth_rendezvous/2023/program/morning_workshops/w4/index.html). The theme of this year’s workshop was on the atmospheric rivers that slammed California during the winter of 2022–2023. There…