This project seeks to understand how tropospheric blocking events lead to stratospheric sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs). Previous research has shown a statistically significant relationship in which most SSWs are preceded by blocking events, yet the majority of blocking events are not followed SSWs. The goal of this research is to determine what factors cause some blocks to perturb the stratosphere while others do not. The research is conducted through a combination of dynamical diagnosis of reanalysis datasets and numerical experiments conducted with an idealized atmospheric model.
The research topic is of practical importance as well as scientific interest, as SSWs are known to affect subsequent weather and are particularly associated with cold air outbreaks. Results of this research may thus be of interest for long-range weather forecasting. In addition, the project supports two graduate students, thereby providing for the next generation of researchers in this area.
