Research interests

The research areas below include links
to sample papers in each area.

Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction
· El Niño/Southern oscillation
· Midlatitude ocean-atmosphere interaction
· Ocean-atmosphere interaction in the tropical climatology
· Monsoon theory as a problem in ocean-atmosphere-land interaction
· Thermohaline circulation-atmosphere interaction

Sea-ice-ocean interaction

Land-surface climate interaction

Tropical atmospheric dynamics for tropical climate problems
· Interaction between moist convection and large-scale motions
· Moist teleconnections
· Tropical precipitation change under global warming
· Intraseasonal oscillations
· Stochastic moist convection
· Hurricanes

Hierarchical ocean-atmosphere-land modeling
· Hybrid coupled models
· Quasi-equilibrium Tropical Circulation Models (QTCMs)

Hierarchical Ocean-Atmosphere-Land Modeling:

Quasi-equilibrium Tropical Circulation Models (QTCMs)

Link to group QTCM page

QTCM1 (version 2.2):
Anomalous precipitation from a
simulation forced by observed sea
surface temperatures 1982-1998.

Quasi-equilibrium Tropical Circulation Models (QTCMs) are part of the research effort of the Climate Systems Interaction (CSI) group, in the Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences at UCLA.

QTCMs are models of intermediate complexity suitable for the modeling of tropical climate and its variability. It occupies a niche among climate models between complex general circulation models and simple models.

The primitive-equation-based dynamical framework is constructed using analytical solutions from the quasi-equilibrium convective parameterization as the first basis function in a Galerkin representation of vertical structure. A uniqueness of the QTCM is its balanced treatment of dynamics and physical parameterizations. It includes a linearized longwave radiation scheme, simple cloud prediction and shortwave radiation schemes, and the Simple-Land (SLand) land model.

Selected links to abstracts and paper downloads.

QTCM Formulation Publications

Neelin, J. D., and N. Zeng, 2000: A quasi-equilibrium tropical circulation model---formulation. J. Atmos. Sci. , 57, 1741-1766.

Zeng, N., J. D. Neelin, and C. Chou, 2000: A quasi-equilibrium tropical circulation model---implementation and simulation. J. Atmos. Sci., 57, 1767-1796.

Publications using QTCM within the CSI group:

Su, H. and J. D. Neelin, 2003: The Scatter in Tropical Average Precipitation Anomalies. J. Climate, 16, 3966-3977.

Chou, C. and J. D. Neelin, 2002: Mechanisms limiting the northward extent of the northern summer convection zones. J. Climate, 16, 406-425.

Su, H., J. D. Neelin, and J. E. Meyerson, 2003: Sensitivity of tropical tropospheric temperature to sea surface temperature forcing. J. Climate, 16, 1283-1301. - Related: IGPP 2001 Poster Session (PDF 1.6MB).

Zeng, N., K. Hales, and J. D. Neelin, 2002: Nonlinear dynamics in a Coupled Vegetation-Atmosphere System and Implications for Desert-Forest Gradient. J. Climate, 15, 3474-3487.

Su, H., and J. D. Neelin, 2001: Teleconnection mechanisms for tropical Pacific descent anomalies during El Niño. J. Atmos. Sci., 59, 2682-2700.

Su, H., J. D. Neelin, and C. Chou, 2001: Tropical teleconnection and local response to SST anomalies during the 1997-1998 El Niño. J. Geophys. Res., 106, No. D17, 20,025-20,043.

Chou, C. and J. D. Neelin, 2001: Mechanisms limiting the southward extent of the South American summer monsoon. Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, no.12, 2433-2436.

Chou, C., J. D. Neelin and H. Su, 2001: Ocean-atmosphere-land feedbacks in an idealized monsoon. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 127, 1869-1891.

Zeng, N., and J. D. Neelin, 2000: The role of vegetation-climate interaction and interannual variability in shaping the African Savanna. J. Climate, 13, 2665-2670.

Zeng, N., J. D. Neelin, K.-M. Lau, and C. J. Tucker, 1999: Enhancement of interdecadal climate variability in the Sahel by vegetation interaction. Science, 286, 1537-1540.

Lin, J. W.-B., J. D. Neelin, and N. Zeng, 2000: Maintenance of tropical variability: Impact of evaporation-wind feedback and midlatitude storms. J. Atmos. Sci., 57, 2793-2823.

Zeng, N., J. D. Neelin, C. Chou, J. W.-B. Lin, H. Su, 2000: Climate and variability in the first quasi-equilibrium tropical circulation model. General Circulation Model Development: Past, Present, and Future, Academic Press, 457--488.

Publications using QTCM (outside the CSI group)

Chou, C., 2003: Establishment of the low-level wind anomalies over the western North Pacific during ENSO development. J. Climate, 17, 2195-2212.

Labarbe, P. and B DeWitte, 2003: El Niño teleconnections in the Northern tropical Atlantic ocean. Report:IRD Institut de recherche pour le developpement.

Sobel, A. H. and C. S. Bretherton, 2000: Modeling Tropical precipitation in a single column. J. Climate, 13, 4378-4392.

Sobel, A. H., J. Nilsson, and L. M. Polvani, 2001: The weak temperature gradient approximation and balanced tropical moisture waves. J. of Atmospheric Sciences, 58, 3650-3665.