Reunion Island, 28 November – 3 December 2016

The Maïdo Observatory Summer School (MOSS) will focus on troposphere‐stratosphere composition and dynamics. The summer school will take place on Reunion Island, a southern tropical site (21°S, 55°E), where atmospheric observations and research activities have been developing since the early 1990s.

The MOSS is intended to further develop understanding of monitoring techniques, processes and changes in the Earth’s atmosphere (troposphere and stratosphere) with emphasis on dynamics, long‐term evolution of atmospheric composition, and climate change. The academic activities will be based on courses and training in accordance with SPARC (Stratosphere‐ troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate) activities and with its strategy in terms of capacity development. SPARC is a core project of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

The School is scheduled for 6‐days of coursework and is open to PhD students and early career researchers in the field of instrumentation and atmospheric sciences.

Applications will be accepted from:

• students registered in a doctoral programme;
• postdoctoral and young researchers from public or private laboratories;
• any other scientists or engineers from public or private laboratories.

Registration fees for MOSS 2016:

• For PhD students (with official justification): 400 euros
• For researchers or engineers from universities or public research institutes: 700 euros
• For researchers / engineers from private or industrial organizations: please contact the organizers: moss@univ‐reunion.fr

Registration fees are intended to cover: accommodation in the Village Corail centre at Ermitage, Saint‐Gilles, from Sunday 27 November to Sunday 4 December 2016; meals (breakfast, lunch and coffee‐breaks, from Monday 28 Nov. to Saturday 3 Dec. 2016, plus a gala dinner); transportation: special shuttle bus from/to the airport and between the hotel (Village Corail) and the Maïdo Observatory.

A small number of grants to cover travel and registration costs are available.

See the summer school website for further information: http://lacy.univ-reunion.fr/formation/summer-school/

Manchester, UK, 17-19 October 2016

The 2016 IAGOS Scientific Symposium on Atmospheric Composition will take place from 17-19 October in Manchester, UK. The goal of the symposium is to present and discuss new scientific research in the area of atmospheric composition, processes, and trends based on over 20 years of repetitive commercial aircraft observations by IAGOS-CARIBIC and IAGOS-CORE, with a view to

highlighting new findings and to promote use of this capability across the scientific community. There will be plenary sessions with 15-minute talks and a poster session. Each session will be introduced by an invited speaker highlighting key scientific questions which IAGOS airborne observational databases have or can contribute to.

The scientific symposium will cover the following research areas:

• Aerosols and Climate
• UTLS Dynamics, Chemical Composition & Trends
• Reactive Trace Gases
• Water Vapour Clouds & Radiation
• Evaluation & validation of satellite and surface remote sensing
• Long-range transport of air pollutants
• New technical developments for airborne monitoring

More information can be found on the conference website.

The IGAC 2016 conference will:

• Highlight cutting edge scientific research on atmospheric chemistry.
• Foster international collaborations to address the most pressing global change and sustainability issues through scientific research.
• Engage early career scientist to cultivate the next generation of international researchers.
• Highlight scientists and scientific research from developing and emerging economies.
• Promote networking between scientists, policy makers and industry leaders.

The IGAC 2016 Science Conference is a high profile event that will attract approximately 600 top international scientists, industry leaders, early career scientists from around the world, and representatives from all of the major U.S. funding agencies. The program will include cutting edge results from international atmospheric chemistry research activities.

Abstract submissions extended until 11 April 2016.

See the conference website for more information: www.igac2016.org

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

Stratospheric aerosol – Observations, processes, and impact on climate. By S. Kremser et al. in Reviews of Geophysics.

Global stratospheric measurements of the isotopologues of methane from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer. By E.M. Buzan et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

Intercomparison of in situ water vapor balloon-borne measurements from Pico-SDLA H₂O and FLASH-B in the tropical UTLS. By M. Ghysels et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

The stratospheric pathway for Arctic impacts on mid-latitude climate. By T. Nakamura et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Lagrangian temperature and vertical velocity fluctuations due to gravity waves in the lower stratosphere. By A. Podglajen et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Progress towards high-resolution, real-time radiosonde reports. By B. Ingleby et al. in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

The Influence of the Madden-Julian Oscillation on Northern Hemisphere Winter Blocking. By S.A. Henderson et al. in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

Maryland Summer Stratospheric Intrusions. By L.E. Ott et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Detection of trends in surface ozone in the presence of climate variability. By E.A. Barnes et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Predictability of the Stratospheric Polar Vortex Breakdown: An Ensemble Reforecast Experiment for the Splitting Event in January 2009. By S. Noguchi et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Quantifying Isentropic Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange (STE) of Ozone. By H. Yang et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Energetic particle precipitation: a major driver of the ozone budget in the Antarctic upper stratosphere. By A. Damiani et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Upper tropospheric humidity changes under constant relative humidity. By K. Gierens and K. Eleftheratos in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

On the Composite Response of the MLT to Major Sudden Stratospheric Warming Events with Elevated Stratopause. By V. Limpasuvan et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Highly significant responses to anthropogenic forcings of the midlatitude jet in the Southern Hemisphere. By A. Solomon and L.M. Polvani in the Journal of Climate.

Stratospheric ozone changes under solar geoengineering: implications for UV exposure and air quality. By P.J. Nowack et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Spectroscopic evidence for large aspherical β-NAT particles involved in denitrification in the December 2011 Arctic stratosphere. By W. Woiwode et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Strong modification of stratospheric ozone forcing by cloud and sea ice adjustments. By Y. Xia et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

A semi-empirical model for mesospheric and stratospheric NO_y produced by energetic particle precipitation. By B. Funke et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Climate predictability in the stratosphere

See the latest edition of the WMO Bulletin (65(1)) for an interesting article about climate predictability and the influence of the stratosphere (by SPARC SSG member Alexey Karpechko).

Find the article here: http://public.wmo.int/en/resources/bulletin/climate-predictability-stratosphere

Registration deadline: 30 March 2016

We kindly invite you to the

DLR Conference on Climate Change 2016 – Challenges for Atmospheric Research
in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

5-7 April 2016 in Cologne, Germany

Climate change has become one of the most important issues mankind will have to contend with in forthcoming decades. Though we are basically certain that human activity is causing global warming, the magnitude of the warming and the associated changes in the probability distributions of many climate variables are still quite uncertain. We need a better understanding of, e.g., the cloud processes and their impact on climate sensitivity.

This scientific conference aims to provide a discussion forum for international scientists, research centers and space agencies together with United Nations entities such as UNOOSA, UNFCCC, WMO and GCOS to investigate the considerable challenges in atmospheric climate research.

The complete agenda with internationally renowned speakers from all entities is now online at www.ccc2016.net/agenda.

Online registration is still possible until 30 March 2016.

We are looking forward to seeing you in April!

Prof. Dr. Hansjörg Dittus, German Aerospace Center (DLR e.V.)
i.V. Prof. Dr. Markus Rapp, German Aerospace Center (DLR e.V.)

www.ccc2016.net

Organisational matters:

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

Upper tropospheric water vapour variability at high latitudes – Part 1: Influence of the annular modes. By C.E. Sioris et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

A new class of vacillations of the stratospheric polar vortex. By R.K. Scott in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

The atmospheric partial lifetime of carbon tetrachloride with respect to the global soil sink. By R. Rhew and J. Happell in Geophysical Research Letters.

Long-term validation of ESA operational retrieval (version 6.0) of MIPAS Envisat vertical profiles of methane, nitrous oxide, CFC11, and CFC12 using balloon-borne observations and trajectory matching. By A. Engel et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

Satellite-based global volcanic SO₂ emissions and sulfate direct radiative forcing during 2005-2012. By C. Ge et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

An assessment of the consistency between satellite measurements of upper tropospheric water vapor. By E.-S. Chung et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Polar stratospheric cloud evolution and chlorine activation measured by CALIPSO and MLS, and modeled by ATLAS. By H. Nakajima et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Global HCFC-22 measurements with MIPAS: retrieval, validation, global distribution and its evolution over 2005–2012. By M. Chirkov et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Convective sources of trajectories traversing the tropical tropopause layer. By A.-S. Tissier and B. Legras in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Atmospheric histories and global emissions of halons H-1211 (CBrClF₂), H-1301 (CBrF₃), and H-2402 (CBrF₂CBrF₂). By M.K. Vollmer et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Trapping, chemistry, and export of trace gases in the South Asian summer monsoon observed during CARIBIC flights in 2008. By A. Rauthe-Schöch et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Variational data assimilation for the optimized ozone initial state and the short-time forecasting. By S.-Y. Park et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Results from the validation campaign of the ozone radiometer GROMOS-C at the NDACC station of La Réunion Island. By S. Fernandez et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

30 years of upper air soundings on board of R/V POLARSTERN. By A. Driemel et al. in Earth System Science Data Discussions.

Spectral analysis of atmospheric composition: application to surface ozone model-measurement comparisons. By D.R. Bowdalo et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

The Tropical Tropopause Inversion Layer. By R.P. Kedzierski et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

AerGOM, an improved algorithm for stratospheric aerosol retrieval from GOMOS observations. Part 2: Intercomparisons. By C.E. Robert et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.

The natural oscillations in stratospheric ozone observed by the GROMOS microwave radiometer at the NDACC station Bern. By L. Moreira et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Evaluation of Water Vapour Assimilation in the Tropical Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere by a Chemical Transport Model. By S. Payra et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.

17-20 May in Stockholm, Sweden

The International Conference on Regional Climate-CORDEX 2016 (ICRC-CORDEX 2016), to be held in Stockholm from 17-20 May 2016, will bring together the international regional climate research community, focusing on high resolution climate information and its applications to vulnerability, impacts and adaptation, and the full spectrum of potential end-users of regional climate information. It will promote the CORDEX vision to advance and coordinate the science and application of regional climate downscaling through global partnerships. More information is available on the conference website: www.icrc-cordex2016.org

A special Early Career Researchers event focused on Science Communication is also being organised on 19 May. See here for more information and the opportunity to share your thoughts about science communication from an early career researcher’s perspective: www.icrc-cordex2016.org/index.php/programme/ecs-event

The CFMIP/WCRP/ICTP Conference on Cloud Processes, Circulation andClimate Sensitivity will be held 4-7 July 2016 at the InternationalCenter for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. This CFMIP/WCRP/ICTPinternational conference will focus on the theme of the WCRP GrandChallenge on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity, in addition toaddressing other ongoing CFMIP activities.

The four-day conference will contain oral and poster sessions on:

• Modeling and observational constraints on cloud feedbacks, adjustments and climate sensitivity, including the role of moist convection in cloud feedbacks
• Cloud/circulation/precipitation coupling and its variability in present and future climates, including hydrological extremes and ITCZ and storm track changes.
• Process based evaluation of clouds and cloud controlling factors in climate models using fine scale models and observations, including satellite simulators.
• How will the organization of cloud systems interact with climate change?Coordination of CFMIP and Grand Challenge activities with CMIP6.

The deadline for abstract submissions is 15 April 2016.

For more information, please visit the conference site at: http://www.giss.nasa.gov/meetings/cfmip2016/

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Advertisement! ICTP Summer School on Aerosol-Cloud Interactions

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Please note that PhD students and early career scientists may beinterested to also attend the ICTP Summer School on Aerosol-CloudInteractions which takes place the week preceeding the conference: June27-July 1. The tuition is by Wojciech W. Grabowski, Chris Bretherton,Corinne Hoose, Anna Possner, Adrian Tompkins and Fabien Solmon and thereare hands-on lab classes conducting experiments with the "baby-EULAG"model.

There are no course fees, but availability of places is strictly limited – to apply see indico.ictp.it/event/7614/

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

Observational constraints on the efficiency of dehydration mechanisms in the tropical tropopause layer. A.W. Rollins et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Climatic impacts of stratospheric geoengineering with sulfate, black carbon and titania injection. By A.C. Jones et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Drivers of changes in stratospheric and tropospheric ozone between year 2000 and 2100. By A. Banarjee et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

The influence of atmospheric blocking on extreme winter minimum temperatures in North America. By K. Whan et al. in the Journal of Climate.

Tropical Upper Tropospheric Potential Vorticity Intrusions During Sudden Stratospheric Warmings. By J.R. Albers et al. in the Journal of Atmospheric Sciences.

The impact of a future solar minimum on climate change projections in the Northern Hemisphere. By G. Chiodo et al. in Environmental Research Letters.

Taking the chill off: Future Arctic sea-ice loss reduces severity of cold air outbreaks in midlatitudes. By B. Ayarzagüena and J.A. Screen in Geophysical Research Letters.

On the formation of tropical rings of atomic halogens: Causes and implications. By A. Saiz-Lopez and R. P. Fernandez in Geophysical Research Letters.

The impact of the direct effects of sulfate and black carbon aerosols on the sub-seasonal march of the East Asian subtropical summer monsoon. By D. Wang et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

The airborne mass spectrometer AIMS – Part 1: AIMS-H₂O for UTLS water vapor measurements. By S. Kaufmann et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

Decadal climate predictions using sequential learning algorithms. By E. Strobach and G. Bel in the Journal of Climate.

Ozone and carbon monoxide over India during the summer monsoon: regional emissions and transport. By N. Ojha et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Stratospheric Gravity Wave Fluxes and Scales during DEEPWAVE. By R.B. Smith et al. in the Journal of Atmospheric Sciences.

The Convective Transport of Active Species in the Tropics (CONTRAST) Experiment. By L.L. Pan et al. in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

What is the Polar Vortex, and how does it influence weather? By D.W. Waugh et al. in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

Discussion papers – open for comment

UV and Infrared Absorption Spectra, Atmospheric Lifetimes, and Ozone Depletion and Global Warming Potentials for CCl₂FCCl₂F (CFC-112), CCl₃CClF₂ (CFC-112a), CCl₃CF₃ (CFC-113a), and CCl₂FCF₃ (CFC-114a). By M.E. Davis et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Hybrid ensemble 4DVar assimilation of stratospheric ozone using a global shallow water model. By D.R. Allen et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

An update on the uncertainties of water vapor measurements using Cryogenic Frostpoint Hygrometers. By H. Vömel et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.

A comparative analysis of UV nadir-backscatter and infrared limb-emission ozone data assimilation. By R. Dragani in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Representing the effects of stratosphere-troposphere exchange on 3D O₃ distributions in chemistry transport models using a potential vorticity based parameterization. By J. Xing et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.