In the context of WCRP’s new Strategy and Implementation Plan  currently being developed, the programme is inviting (self-)nominations for membership in the following six of its expert panels:

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

Synoptic-scale zonal available potential energy increases in the Northern Hemisphere. By K.A. Bowley E.H. Atallah, and J.R. Gyakum in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Stratospheric aerosol radiative forcing simulated by the chemistry climate model EMAC using aerosol CCI satellite data. By C. Brühl et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Historical Tropospheric and Stratospheric Ozone Radiative Forcing Using the CMIP6 Database. By R. Checa‐Garcia et al. in the Geophysical Research Letters.

GRACILE: a comprehensive climatology of atmospheric gravity wave parameters based on satellite limb soundings. By M. Ern et al. in Earth System Science Data.

A systematic wavelet-based exploratory analysis of climatic variables. By M. Gallegati in Climatic Change.

Multidecadal fluctuation of the wintertime Arctic Oscillation pattern and its implication. By H. Gong et al. in the Journal of Climate.

The early 20th century warming: Anomalies, causes, and consequences. By G.C. Hegerl et al. in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change.

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

Tritium Records to Trace Stratospheric Moisture Inputs in Antarctica. By E. Fourré et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

The MJO‐SSW teleconnection: interaction between MJO‐forced waves and the mid‐latitude jet. By W. Kang and E. Tziperman in the Geophysical Research Letters.

A global coupled ensemble data assimilation system using the Community Earth System Model and the Data Assimilation Research Testbed. By A.R. Karspeck et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Nonlinear Response of the Stratosphere and the North Atlantic‐European Climate to Global Warming. By E. Manzini, A. Karpechko, and L. Kornblueh in the Geophysical Research Letters.

Lower‐Stratospheric Control of the Frequency of Sudden Stratospheric Warming Events. By P. Martineau et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

The impact of stratospheric ozone feedbacks on climate sensitivity estimates. By P.J. Nowack et al in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Atmospheric Teleconnections: Advanced Tools and Citizen Science. By E. Rousi, D. Coumou, and R.V. Donner in Earth & Space Science News.

Convective Hydration of the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere. By M.R. Schoeberl et al. in the Journal of geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

A Gravity Wave Drag Matrix for Complex Terrain. By R.B. Smith and C.G. Kruse in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations. By R. Spang et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Interannual Modulation of Northern Hemisphere Winter Storm Tracks by the QBO. By J. Wang, H-M Kim, and E.K.M. Chang in the Geophysical Research Letters.

First Reprocessing of Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesondes Profile Records: 3. Uncertainty in Ozone Profile and Total Column. By J.C. Witte et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Quasi‐stationary waves and their impact on European weather and extreme events. By G. Wolf et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Does Extreme El Niño Have a Different Effect on the Stratosphere in Boreal Winter Than Its Moderate Counterpart? By X. Zhou et al in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

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

How cleaner air changes the climate. By Bjørn Hallvard Samset in Science.

Preconditioning of Arctic Stratospheric Polar Vortex Shift Events. By J. Huang et al. in the Journal of Climate.

Intercomparison of middle-atmospheric wind in observations and models. By R. Rüfenacht et al. in Atmospheric measurement Techniques.

Modulation of the MJO and North Pacific Storm Track Relationship by the QBO. By J. Wang et al in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Observational evidence of the downstream impact on tropical rainfall from stratospheric Kelvin waves. By L. Zhang et al. in Climate Dynamics.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Extreme levels of Canadian wildfire smoke in the stratosphere over central Europe – Part 1: AERONET, MODIS and lidar observations. By A. Ansmann et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

A Joint AerChemMIP / RFMIP / PDRMIP Workshop in Support of CMIP6

Dates: 11-15 June 2018

Venue: University of Reading, Reading, UK

Theme: New Science opportunities from CMIP6 multi-model forcing response experiments.

The Joint workshop will focus on the use of multi-model experiments to quantify the effective radiative forcing driven by changes in composition and the consequent climate responses. Data from idealised experiments are already available from PDRMIP. For the first time in CMIP, forcing data from all the CMIP6 climate models will be generated under the RFMIP protocols, and further broken down by forcing component in RFMIP and AerChemMIP.

Workshop goals:

1. To discuss RFMIP and AerChemMIP experiments and plan analyses
2. To discuss the scientific results coming from PDRMIP and related analyses and the potential for new science from CMIP6 on composition, forcing and response.

This workshop will be of interest to all those analysing/planning to analyse model forcing and response. Attendance from modelling centres contributing to RFMIP or AerChemMIP experiments is encouraged.

Abstract submission:

Email your title and abstract (around 200 words) as a word document to by 20th April. Please indicate whether your abstract is focused on PDRMIP (Monday and Tuesday) or RFMIP/AerChemMIP (Tuesday and Wednesday).

Find more details in the 2nd Announcement (PDF, 0.1 MB)

Join the 6th SPARC General Assembly from 1st to 5th October 2018 in Kyoto, Japan!

Abstract submission is closing soon.

We are accepting abstract submissions until Wed, 11 April 24:00 UTC (Thu, 9:00 a.m. Japan Standard Time)

Sumit your abstract here.

NOTE: If you experience technical problems with the webpage, please send your abstract and personal information via email to .

Awards will be made to the best presentations by Early Career Scientists (ECS) in each of the six science themes of the conference.

Early-bird registration will open on 22 April 2018.

Find more information on  the science themes, venue, registration details, and more on the  conference web pages:  http://www-mete.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/SPARC_GA2018/index.html or  http://www.aparc-climate.org/meetings/general-assembly-2018/.

We look forward to a great conference, and hope you will join in!

See you in Kyoto!

The CORDEX Central America and South America Training Workshop on Downscaling Techniques to take place during 25-27 June 2018 in La Paz, Bolivia.

The workshop is intended for PhD students and early career researchers with a background in regional climate science. The main objectives of the workshop are to build capacity in regional climate downscaling techniques and to coordinate future CORDEX activities in the domains over South and Central America/Latin America and the Caribbean.

Online registration and financial support requests will be open from April 4 to April 23.

Find more details on the workshop website.

Download 1st Announcement (PDF.0.65 MB)

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

Stratospheric role in interdecadal changes of El Niño impacts over Europe. By B. Ayarzagüena et al. in Climate Dynamics.

The influence of the Stratospheric state on North Atlantic Weather Regimes. By A.J. Charlton‐Perez, L. Ferranti, and R.W. Lee in the Quaterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Changing world extreme temperature statistics. By J.M. Finkel and J.I. Katz in the International Journal of Climatology.

Nonlinear response of tropical lower-stratospheric temperature and water vapor to ENSO. By C.I. Garfinkel et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Computation and characterization of local sub-filter-scale energy transfers in atmospheric flows. By D. Faranda et al. in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Nucleation of nitric acid hydrates in polar stratospheric clouds by meteoric material. By A.D. James et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

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.

Discussion papers – open for comment

The Climatology of Brewer-Dobson Circulation and the Contribution of Gravity Waves. By K. Sato and S. Hirano in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Effects of different stratospheric SO2 injection altitudes on stratospheric chemistry and dynamics. By S. Tilmes et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2017JD028146

The Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI) is one of the most fundamental metrics defining the status of global climate change and expectations for continued global warming. WCRP Core Projects work together for a new WCRP-wide initiative to identify research goals and opportunities for Earth’s Energy Imbalance and to strengthen future international scientific collaboration with experts for EEI assessments.

Save the dates for this opportunity for international scientific collaborations: The WCRP workshop will be held on  13-16 November 2018 in Toulouse, France. Further details can be found here and will be updated through the websites of WCRP and its Core Projects.

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

Scale-Dependent Background-Error Covariance Localization: Evaluation in a Global Deterministic Weather Forecasting System. By J-F. Caron and M. Buehner in the Monthly Weather Review.

A warming tropical central Pacific dries the lower stratosphere. By Q. Ding and Q. Fu in Climate Dynamics.

Consistency of climate change projections from multiple global and regional model intercomparison projects. By J. Fernández et al. in Climate Dynamics.

Interdecadal variability of the Warm Arctic and Cold Eurasia pattern and its North Atlantic origin. By M.-Kyung Sung, S-H Kim, B-M. Kim, and Y-S. Choi in the Journal of Climate.

Directional Absorption of Parameterized Mountain Waves and Its Influence on the Wave Momentum Transport in the Northern Hemisphere. By X. Xu et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Coupled interannual variability of the Hadley and Ferrel cells. By P. Zurita-Gotor and P. Álvarez-Zapatero in the Journal of Climate.