Dr. Lindzen continues to investigate a number of topics related to the role of equilibration in atmospheric dynamics. The two broad areas of interest are: (1) potential vorticity mixing and its implications for atmospheric structure, and the reduction in growth rates of planetary scale baroclinic instability and (2) the enstrophy budget, and its role in limiting the amplitude of forced Rossby waves. These two topics are important for understanding the dynamics of, respectively, the extratropical and tropical atmosphere structure and critical components in the development of physically based climate models. Particularly interesting should be an observational analysis examining the relationship between changes in the sea surface temperatures associated with El Nino events and changes in the intensity of the Hadley circulation.
In addition, Dr. Lindzen will continue to study stationary Rossby waves in general and including their interactions with ice sheets. He will look at both the contribution of ice sheet to the formation of Rossby waves and, in turn, their influence on the development and ablation of the ice sheets. This is important not only in its application to present day ice sheets, but potentially could be useful in understanding ice age glaciations and deglaciations.
Support for this project is provided jointly by the Climate Dynamics and Large-scale Dynamic Meteorology Programs.
