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

Momentum Flux Spectra of a Mountain Wave Event Over New Zealand. By K. Bossert et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Extratropical atmospheric predictability from the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation in subseasonal forecast models. By C.I. Garfinkel et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

The South Asian monsoon—pollution pump and purifier. By J. Lelieveld et al. in Science.

Statistical characteristics of gravity waves with near‐inertial frequencies in the Antarctic troposphere and lower stratosphere observed by the PANSY radar. By Y. Minamihara et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

The seasonal fingerprint of climate change. By W.J. Randel in Science.

Observing the tropical atmosphere in moisture space. By H. Schulz and B. Stevens in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Discussion papers – open for comment:

The MIPAS/Envisat climatology (2002–2012) of polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) volume density profiles. By M. Höpfner et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

The International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland, stands for excellence in  advanced studies contributing to a deeper understanding of the data from space missions, ground  based observations, and laboratory experiments. ISSI aims at adding values to those results through  multidisciplinary research. The Institute attracts more than 900 scientists each year in the framework  of international teams, workshops, working groups, forums or through individual visiting scientists.

The ISSI Board of Trustees advertises the position of

Executive Director

to succeed the former Executive Director Rafael Rodrigo who has been called to some high  governmental responsibilities in his country

Find full announcement

Application deadline is 30 September 2018.

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

Do CMIP5 models reproduce observed low‐frequency North Atlantic jet variability? By T.J. Bracegirdle et al. in the Geophysical Research Letters.

Data assimilation in the geosciences: An overview of methods, issues, and perspectives. By A. Cerrassi et al. in the Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews (WIREs) Climate Change.

The momentum budget in the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere Part 1: Contribution of different wave types and in situ generation of Rossby waves. By K. Sato, R. Yasui, and Y. Miyoshi in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

The momentum budget in the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere Part 2: The in situ generation of gravity waves. By R. Yasui, K. Sato, and Y. Miyoshi in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Stratospheric aerosol evolution after Pinatubo simulated with a coupled size-resolved aerosol–chemistry–climate model, SOCOL-AERv1.0. By T. Sukhodolov et al. in Geoscientific Model Development.

Discussion papers – open of comments:

Mesoscale fine structure of a tropopause fold over mountains. By W. Woiwode et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

WCRP is awarding annually, together with its two respective partners WWRP and GCOS, two prizes for notable achievements in model as well as data development. The “WCRP/WWRP International Prize for Model Development” has been awarded since 2014 for outstanding contributions to model development by WCRP and the World Weather Research Programme (WWRP). In 2016, the “WCRP/GCOS International Data Prize 2018” has been established by WCRP and the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), rewarding provision of climate or Earth system data that had a visible impact on the community.

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

Atmospheric blocking as a traffic jam in the jet stream. By N. Nakamura and C.S.Y. Huang in Science.

Climate Change Is Making Night-Shining Clouds More Visible. Press release by American Geophysical Union.

A two-dimensional dynamical model for the subseasonal variability of the Asian monsoon anticyclone. By A. Amemiya and K. Sato in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Toward Standardized Data Sets for Climate Model Experimentation. By Paul J. Durack et al. in Earth and Space Science News.

Interdecadal Variability of the Warm Arctic and Cold Eurasia Pattern and Its North Atlantic Origin. By M-K. Sung et al. in the Journal of Climate.

The Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol Model Intercomparison Project (ISA-MIP): motivation and experimental design. By C. Timmreck et al. in Geoscientific Model development.

Convective influence on the humidity and clouds in the tropical tropopause layer during boreal summer. By R. Ueyama, E. Jensen, and L. Pfister in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

On the linkage among strong stratospheric mass circulation, stratospheric sudden warming, and cold weather events. By Y. Yu et al. in the Monthly Weather Review.

The Interconnected Global Climate System—A Review of Tropical–Polar Teleconnections. By X. Yuan, M.R. Kaplan, and M.A. Cane in the Journal of Climate.

A WCRP workshop on “The Earth’s Energy Imbalance and its implications”
will be held in Toulouse, France, from 13th to 16th Nov 2018.

The deadline for abstract submission has been extended to 13th July 2018.

The main objective of the workshop is to initiate a new WCRP-wide
activity and to thus strengthen and extend the community on the Earth’s
energy imbalance through a community wide discussion on links across all
the WCRP Core Projects and relevant activities. The expected outcome is
to identify research goals and opportunities focused on the Earth’s
energy imbalance, and synthesize the various aspects across WCRP.

Further information on the workshop, and instructions how to submit an
abstract can be found on the workshop webpage.

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

Coordinated Upper-Troposphere-to-Stratosphere Balloon Experiment in Biak. By F. Hasebe et al. in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

Climate–carbon cycle uncertainties and the Paris Agreement. By P.B. Holden et al in Nature Climate Change.

New Version of Popular Climate Model Released. By L. Joel in Earth and Space Science News.

Atmospheric blocking and upper‐level Rossby wave forecast skill dependence on model configuration. By O. Martínez‐Alvarado et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal meteorological Society.

Ozone sensitivity of tropical upper‐troposphere and stratosphere temperature in the MetOffice Unified Model. By J. Oh et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal meteorological Society.

Descent Rate Models of the Synchronization of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation by the Annual Cycle in Tropical Upwelling. By K. Rajendran et al. in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Open Access “Grand Challenges” in Big Data and the Earth Sciences. By S.L. Sellars in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

Discussion papers open for comment:

Zonal-mean data set of global atmospheric reanalyses on pressure levels. By P. Martineau et al. in Earth System Science Data.

A number of SPARC-related sessions have been organised for this year’s fall AGU meeting (abstract submission deadline 3 August 2016). The following is a non-exhaustive list:

A023: Atmospheric Trace Species in the Stratosphere: Distribution, trends, variability, and processes related to stratospheric ozone and climate
Primary Convener : Karen Hepler Rosenlof
Convenors: John S Daniel, Susan Elaine Strahan, Antara Banerjee

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/prelim.cgi/Session/50372

A079 Observations and Modeling of the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere
Primary Convener : Eric J Jensen
Convenors: William John Randel, Marta Abalos, Adam E Bourassa

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/prelim.cgi/Session/47094

A087: Quantifying and reducing the uncertainties in the aerosol forcing of climate
Primary Convener : Ken S Carslaw
Convenors: Lamarque Jean-Francois, Matthew Christensen, V Ramaswamy

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/prelim.cgi/Session/53904

A096: Stratosphere-Troposphere Coupling: Large-Scale Atmospheric Dynamics and Transport
Primary Convener : Clara Orbe
Convenors: Gang Chen, Marianna Linz, Peter Hitchcock

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/prelim.cgi/Session/51534

GC039: Ensemble Modeling Approaches to Studying the Earth System Response to Anthropogenic Forcing
Primary Convener: Keith B Rodgers
Conveners: Shoshiro Minobe, Flavio Lehner, Mingfang Ting

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/prelim.cgi/Session/50787

GC058: How Can Global Change Research Inform National Security Decision-Making?
Primary Convener: Apurva Dave
Convener: David Blauvelt

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/prelim.cgi/Session/53085

IN014: Climate Informatics: Methods and Applications
Primary Convener: Jakob Runge
Conveners: Gustau Camps-Valls, Markus Reichstein, Veronika Eyring

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/prelim.cgi/Session/50877

The early-bird registration deadline for the SPARC General Assembly is approaching on

1st July (coming Sunday) 24:00 UTC [Mon, 2 July 9:00 a.m. Japanese Standard time].

After that, the registration fee will be raised to 60.000 JPY (standard fee). Standard registration will be open until 2nd September 24:00 UTC.

Please register under http://www-mete.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/SPARC_GA2018/registration.html (scroll down to point 4).
The registration process will require a credit card.
A limited number of hotel rooms are available for reservation through the registration webpage (hotel reservation is not mandatory for registration). Hotel reservations will be made on first-come-first-serve basis.
All fees (registration; hotel cost; conference dinner) will only be charged to your credit card after the final registration deadline (September 3 (GMT+0:00) [9:00am, September 3 – Japan Time, GMT+9:00]).

Looking forward to seeing you at the conference!

Dear WCRP Community Members,

The draft WCRP Strategic Plan 2019-2029 is now available for public consultation. We welcome your comments and invite you to share this opportunity to shape the next decade of climate research among your colleagues and networks. You will find the plan and the process for commenting at: https://www.wcrp-climate.org/wcrp-sp-pc

A WCRP news item on the Strategic Plan is also available: https://www.wcrp-climate.org/news/wcrp-news/1345-draft-wcrp-strategic-plan-open-for-public-comment

The Strategic Plan consultation will close on 31 August 2018.

Feedback on the consultation process is most welcome. Please email

Kind regards
The WCRP Secretariat
on behalf of
Guy Brasseur
Chair, WCRP Joint Scientific Committee