ROADMAP: ROADMAP
Role of ocean dynamics and Ocean-Atmosphere interactions in Driving cliMAte variations and future Projections of impact-relevant extreme events
Objectives
Primary objective: strengthen our understanding of the role of the ocean in shaping northern hemisphere (NH) climate and associated extreme events on seasonal to climate change timescales.
Secondary objectives:
-improve understanding of ocean circulation patterns variability in the mid-latitude NH and how they will change under climate change
-understand role of oceanic processes within Atlantic and Pacific basins in driving low-frequency NH tropospheric and stratospheric jets, blocking and associated processes like stormtrack and extremes
-assess influence of tropical-extratropical and interbasin large-scale linkages on key atmospheric circulation phenomena and establish how global warming impact the identified teleconnections
-assess the role of the ocean in driving weather and climate extremes
-clarify key spatio-temporal variability patterns in ocean and atmosphere, and interactions between these, using advanced analysis techniques based on dynamical system and information theory
Project Summary
Funded by the JPI CLIMATE and JPI OCEANS joint call on next generation climate science in Europe for oceans, ROADMAP aims to expand current understanding of how the Northern Hemisphere (NH) ocean surface state and ocean dynamics influence the extratropical atmospheric circulation, as well as associated impact-relevant weather and climate extremes, across space and time scales, short-synoptic to decadal-planetary, under both present day and future climate conditions.
ROADMAP is led by MPI for Meteorology (Germany) and its consortium encompasses leading climate research institutions from 7 European countries, including universities as well as institutions providing (national) meteorological and climate services. ROADMAP will continue a long-standing history of international collaboration between its partners within the framework of previous joined projects, making significant contributions to climate variability, predictability and response, as well as climate extremes, particularly in the North Atlantic/European sector.
Within ROADMAP, UiB and NERSC are mainly involved in WP2 (UiB lead) and WP3 (NERSC co-lead), which address:
-how and on which timescales extratropical ocean-atmosphere interactions control the tropospheric eddy-driven jets, cyclone variability (storm track), blocking events and the associated dynamical link to extreme conditions; and how such controls can be modified by global warming [WP2]
-the impact of tropical El Niño Southern Oscillation and Madden Julian Oscillation SST anomalies on the mid-latitude and polar atmospheric circulation [WP3]
-the multidecadal links between tropical and subtropical North Atlantic, and inter-basin connections between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, as well as modifications of linkages under climate change conditions [WP3]
-the identification of key spatial-temporal variability patterns as well as cross-scale causal coupling between different variability modes of ocean and atmosphere [WP5 jointly with WP2 and WP3]
