Physics of the Tropical Atmosphere

Understanding the physics of tropical atmosphere is a very challenging task and to this day we still do not have most of the answers. What makes it so complex is that the primary physical mechanisms of middle latitudes do not exist in the tropics. In the tropics the most important process is deep convection. Deep convection is generally associated with high surface temperature mainly high sea surface temperature (SST) as the ocean dominates the tropical area. The ocean is a major source of water vapor that is lifted to the atmosphere. Large-scale tropical modes associated with bad weather and extensive precipitation are modeled under two different scenarios. The modeled modes are the unstable slow moisture mode associated with the Madden-Julian oscillation and damped Matsuno normal modes. The model gives us better theoretical understanding of the large-scale interactions with deep convection, enabling better understanding and parametrization of the numerical models which can in the future lead to better forecast of the tropics.

Autorentext

Dr. Zeljka Fuchs is an assistant professor of physics at the University of Split, Croatia and faculty adjunct at New Mexico Tech in the USA. She obtained her PhD in Physics at New Mexico Tech. Her research focuses on atmospheric physics, in particular on large-scale processes and their coupling with convection.