9525755 Williams, Chang, and Peng This project involves a study of the interactions between tropical disturbances over the western North Pacific and the easterly waves over the equatorial central Pacific during the Northern Hemisphere summer and is motivated by the results of some observational studies by the principal investigators and other researchers. The zonal mean wind in the lower troposphere converges between the two regions of the tropical Pacific, causing a confluence zone which may be favorable for energy accumulation and, therefore, the enhancement of small disturbances. Barotropic and baroclinic models will be used to investigate how these interactions might occur. Specifically, the models will be used to study the effect of southeastward energy propagation from the western Pacific disturbances (including northwestward propagating waves, tropical cyclones, and the monsoon depression itself), and westward energy propagation from the synoptic scale central Pacific easterly waves. Further, the principal investigators will investigate whether it is possible for disturbances to grow in this region and what the role of moisture/latent heat release might be in such growth. A second objective, using the same barotropic and baroclinic models, is to study the formation and maintenance of the monsoon depression over the western North Pacific. ***
