Dear SPARC community,

Please find below the most recent SPARC eNews.

The SPARC website is updated frequently, so feel free to check for the most recent news items regularly. If you wish to have anything posted in the news section on the website, please don’t hesitate to contact us: office@sparc-climate.org

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SPARC eNews – March 2016
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1 March 2016
Call for abstracts: SPARC QBO workshop “The QBO and its Global Influence – Past, Present and Future”
Submit your abstract before 31 May 2016 for the SPARC QBO workshop, which will be held on 26 – 30 September 2016 in Oxford, UK.
http://www.aparc-climate.org/news/news/news/2016/03/01/call-for-abstracts-sparc-qbo-workshop-the-qbo-and-its-global-influence-pas/

25 February 2016
Follow SPARC on Facebook and Twitter
SPARC is now on social media! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with the latest news.
>https://www.facebook.com/SPARC-WCRP-955412881180792
>https://twitter.com/WCRP_SPARC

25 February 2016
Opportunity for early career researchers: join the YESS SPARC group
The Young Earth System Scientists (YESS) community is a vibrant international group of multidisciplinary early career researchers. This bottom-up organised network is devoted to providing a voice for early career researchers and strengthening collaboration across all boundaries. To find out more about the opportunities that YESS offers and to join the SPARC YESS group see the website:
>http://www.yess-community.org

24 February 2016
Call for abstracts: IGAC Conference 2016
Abstract submission for the 2016 Conference of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) project is now open. The conference is being held from 26-30 September in Breckenridge, Colorado, USA. Deadline for submissions is 2 April 2016.
>http://www.aparc-climate.org/news/news/news/2016/02/24/igac-conference-2016/

23 February 2016
WMO Satellite User Survey 2016
WMO is kindly asking for 15-20 minutes of your time to respond to the Satellite User Survey 2016. This Survey is designed to collect up-to-date information on the capabilities and needs of the satellite user community and WMO Members in using satellite data in meteorological, climate, water, and related environmental applications. Deadline for response is 15 March.
>http://www.aparc-climate.org/news/news/news/2016/02/23/wmo-satellite-user-survey-2016/

23 February 2016
Abstract submissions: 50th CMOS Congress and joint CGU Annual Meeting
Submit your abstract before 29 February for the 50^th CMOS Congress and joint CGU Annual Meeting, which will be held on 29 May – 2 June 2016 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
>http://www.aparc-climate.org/news/news/news/2016/02/23/abstract-submissions-50th-cmos-congress-joint-cgu-annual-meeting/

22 February 2016
Solicitation for input: COPERNICUS survey on users needs
The COPERNICUS survey on user needs is now open for input. The survey will be the first building block of a process aimed at defining the high-level requirements for the next generation of the Copernicus Space Component. It is thus a unique opportunity to contribute to the creation of a “fil rouge” between this Space Component and users.
>http://www.copernicus.eu/copernicus-call-for-interest

11 February 2016
Vacancy: Postdoc position available at MeteoSwiss
The Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss is looking for a Postdoc to study climate change and heat stress.
>http://www.aparc-climate.org/vacancies/

10 February 2016
Colloquium in honour of Prof. Dr. Johannes Staehelin
This one-day colloquium to be held on 4 May 2016 in Zurich, Switzerland, brings together several of Johannes Staehelin’s distinguished colleagues and will focus on past developments and future priorities of ozone research. Professor Staehelin is the former director of the SPARC Project Office.
>http://www.aparc-climate.org/news/news/news/2016/02/10/ozone-research-quo-vadis-a-1-day-colloquium-to-honour-prof-dr-johannes-staehelin-in-zurich-s/

8 February 2016
Letter of petition available to sign: CSIRO cutting climate-related positions
The Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is cutting over 200 positions in climate-related positions. If you think you might like to sign this letter, it can still be signed as a show of support.

 The relevance for SPARC is CSIRO’s important contribution to measurements and modelling.
>http://www.aparc-climate.org/news/news/news/2016/02/08/-a2e2806de2/

5 February 2016
Apply now: 3rd European Earth System and Climate Modelling School
Organised jointly between the National Center for Atmospheric Science, the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, and the University of Barcelona, the E2SCMS Earth System and Climate Modelling Summer School to be held from 9-21 June 2016 in Helsinki, Finland, is open to early career scientists (advanced PhD candidates, postdoctoral scientists, and scientific programmers) who are affiliated with European research institutions. Deadline for applications is 21 March.
>http://www.aparc-climate.org/news/news/news/2016/02/05/3rd-european-earth-system-and-climate-modelling-school-in-helsinke-finland-9-21-june-2016/
Find SPARC news.
Find more news from WCRP, CliC, CLIVAR, and GEWEX.

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Upcoming SPARC meetings 

7-11 March 2016
Workshop on dynamics, transport and chemistry of the UTLS Asian monsoon, Boulder, CO, USA
6-8 April 2016
Workshop on atmospheric blocking, Reading, UK
Registration deadline: 10 February 2016
25-26 April 2016
Atmospheric Temperature Changes workshop, Graz, Austria
25-28 April 2016
2nd Workshop on stratospheric sulfur and its role in climate, Potsdam, Germany
Abstract submission deadline: 1 February 2016
Registration deadline: 21 April 2016
5 May 2016
Ozone Research – Quo Vadis, Zurich, Switzerland
A 1-day colloquium to honour Prof. Dr. Johannes Staehelin
16-20 May 2016
Atmospheric gravity waves: Sources and effects on weather and climate, NY, USA
24-27 May 2016
Joint GAW/SPARC workshop on UT/LS observations, Geneva, Switzerland
6-10 June 2016
SPARC DynVar workshop & S-RIP meeting, Helsinki, Finland
Abstract submission deadline: 11 March 2016
Registration deadline: 22 April 2016
26-30 September 2016
SPARC QBO workshop “The QBO and its Global Influence – Past, Present and Future”, Oxford, UK
Abstract submission and pre-registration deadline: 31 May 2016
17-21 October 2016
SPARC Data Assimilation and S-RIP 2016 Workshop, Victoria, BC, Canada
Find all SPARC meetings.

Upcoming SPARC-related meetings

2-4 March 2016
Global Climate Observation: The road to the future, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
5-7 April 2016
DLR Conference on Climate Change 2016 – Challenges for Atmospheric Research, Cologne, Germany
5-15 April 2016
Polar Prediction School, Abisko Scientific Research Station, Sweden
9-21 June 2016
3^rd European Earth System and Climate Modeling School, Helsinki, Finland
30 July – 7 August 2016
41^st COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Istanbul, Turkey
31 July – 5 August 2016
Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) 13th Annual Meeting, Beijing, China
28 August – 2 September 2016
ISSAOS 2016 summer school on “Advanced Programming Techniques for the Earth System Science”, L’Aquila, Italy
4-9 September 2016
Quadrennial Ozone Symposium, Edinburgh, UK
14-16 September 2016
International Symposium on the Whole Atmosphere (ISWA), Tokyo, Japan
20-22 September 2016
Physics Dynamics Coupling in Weather and Climate Models, Richland, WA, USA
19-28 October 2016
Training School: Convective and volcanic clouds detection, monitoring and modeling, Tarquinia, Italy

Find more SPARC-related meetings.

Find more meetings organised by the WCRP community.

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Science update

A selection of new science articles of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

February 2016

• Influence of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation and Sea Surface Temperature Variability on Downward Wave Coupling in the Northern Hemisphere. By S.W. Lubis et al. in the Journal of Atmospheric Sciences.
• Multi-year climate prediction with initialization based on 4D-Var data assimilation. By T. Mochizuki et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.
• Global normal mode planetary wave activity: a study using TIMED/SABER observations from the stratosphere to the mesosphere-lower thermosphere. By S.R. John and K.K. Kumar in Climate Dynamics.
• Strengthening of the Tropopause Inversion Layer During the 2009 Sudden Stratospheric Warming: A MERRA-2 Study. By K. Wargan and L. Coy in the Journal of Atmospheric Sciences.
• Dynamical consistency of reanalysis data sets in the extratropical stratosphere. By P. Martineau et al. in the Journal of Climate.
• Troposphere–stratosphere response to large-scale North Atlantic Ocean variability in an atmosphere/ocean coupled model. By N.E. Omrani et al. in Climate Dynamics.
• Drift dynamics in a coupled model initialized for decadal forecasts. By E. Sanchez-Gomez et al. in Climate Dynamics.
• Preferred response of the East Asian summer monsoon to local and non-local anthropogenic sulphur dioxide emissions. By B. Dong et al. in Climate Dynamics.
• The Combined Influences of Autumnal Snow and Sea Ice on Northern Hemisphere Winters. By J.C. Furtado et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.
• Evolution of stratospheric sulfate aerosol from the 1991 Pinatubo eruption: Roles of aerosol microphysical processes. By T. Sekiya et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.
• Water vapour variability in the high-latitude upper troposphere – Part 2: Impact of volcanic eruptions. By C.E. Sioris et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
• Unexpected high ³⁵S concentration reveals strong downward transport of stratospheric air during the monsoon transitional period in East Asia. By M. Lin et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.
• Evaluating CMIP5 models using GPS radio occultation COSMIC temperature in UTLS region during 2006–2013: twenty-first century projection and trends. By P. Kishore et al. in Climate Dynamics.
• Does ocean-coupling matter for the northern extra-tropical response to projected Arctic sea ice loss? By C. Deser et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.
• Large scale atmospheric warming in winter and the Arctic sea ice retreat. By S. Dobricic et al. in the Journal of Climate.
• Stratospheric gravity wave momentum flux from radio occultations. By T. Schmidt et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.
• The Upward Branch of the Brewer-Dobson Circulation Quantified by Tropical Stratospheric Water Vapor and Carbon Monoxide Measurements from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder. By K. Minschwaner et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.
• Is the Brewer-Dobson circulation increasing, or moving upward? By s. Oberländer-Hayn et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.
• Impact of rising greenhouse gas concentrations on future tropical ozone and UV exposure. By S. Meul et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.
• Analysis of the seasonal ozone budget and the impact of the summer monsoon on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. By B. Zhu et al. in the Journal of Geophysical research: Atmospheres.
• How to most effectively expand the global surface ozone observing network. By E.D. Sofen et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
• Stratospheric sulfate geoengineering could enhance the terrestrial photosynthesis rate. By L. Xia et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
• Fostering a collaborative atmospheric chemistry research community in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. By M. Andrade-Flores et al. in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
• The SPARC Data Initiative: comparisons of CFC-11, CFC-12, HF and SF6 climatologies from international satellite limb sounders. By S. Tegtmeier et al. in Earth System Science Data.
• Gridded global surface ozone metrics for atmospheric chemistry model evaluation. By E.D. Sofen et al. in Earth System Science Data.
• Measurements and Modeling of Contemporary Radiocarbon in the Stratosphere. By A.M. Kanu et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.
• Reanalyses and Observations: What’s the difference? By W.S. Parker in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
• The ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign: Studying tropical deep convective clouds and precipitation over Amazonia using the new German research aircraft HALO. By M. Wendisch et al. in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
• A wave-activity view of the relation between the Mediterranean storm track and the North Atlantic Oscillation in winter. By M. Rezaeian et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
• Synoptic and meteorological drivers of extreme ozone concentrations over Europe. By N. Otero et al. in Environmental Research Letters.
• New approaches to quantifying aerosol influence on the cloud radiative effect. By G. Feingold et al. in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
• Potential for long-lead prediction of the western North Pacific monsoon circulation beyond seasonal time scales. By J. Choi et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.
• How do carbon cycle uncertainties affect IPCC temperature projections? By R.W. Bodman et al. in Atmospheric Science Letters.

Discussion Papers – open for comment: 

• Characteristics of lower stratospheric transport as inferred from the age of air spectrum. By F. Ploeger and T. Birner in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.
• How can we understand the solar cycle signal on the Earth’s surface? By K. Kodera et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.
• Return glider radiosonde for in-situ upper-air research measurements. By A. Kräuchi and R. Philipona et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.
• A multi-wavelength classification method for polar stratospheric cloud types using infrared limb spectra. By R. Spang et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.
• Evaluation of UTLS carbon monoxide simulations in GMI and GEOS-Chem chemical transport models using Aura MLS observations. By L. Huang et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.
• The impact of lightning on tropospheric ozone chemistry using a new global parametrisation. By D.L. Finney et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.
• AerGOM, an improved algorithm for stratospheric aerosol extinction retrieval from GOMOS observations. Part 1: Algorithm development. By F. Vanhellemont et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.
• Influence of the sudden stratosphere warming on quasi-2 day waves. By S.Y. Gu et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.
• Persistance of upper stratospheric winter time tracer variability into the Arctic spring and summer. By D.E. Siskind et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.
• Representation of the Tropical Stratospheric Zonal Wind in Global Atmospheric Reanalyses. By Y. Kawatami et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.
• Observations of PAN and its confinement in the Asian Summer Monsoon Anticyclone in high spatial resolution. By J. Ungermann et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.
• Adapted ECC ozone sonde for long-duration flights aboard boundary-layer pressurized balloons. By F. Ghuesi et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.
• Interpreting Space-Based Trends in Carbon Monoxide. By S. Strode et al in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.
• Gravity-wave effects on tracer gases and stratospheric aerosol concentrations during the 2013 ChArMEx campaign. By F. Chane Ming et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Find older Science Updates at >http://www.aparc-climate.org/news

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For feedback or input to the next eNews edition please contact:
office@sparc-climate.org
SPARC Office
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www.sparc-climate.org