Symposium on high-impact weather and extreme climate events, IUGG 2011

25 January 2011

The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) will hold an exciting, multi-disciplinary conference on cutting edge science in Melbourne, Australia in mid-2011.

The conference will be hosted at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from June 28 to July 7, 2011.

The deadline for submission of abstracts is Tuesday 1 February 2011.

Scope

Extremes are an inherent aspect of the climate system. Such extremes are of different spatial and temporal scales, including for example, tornadoes, heavy precipitation and flooding, ice storms, tropical and extratropical cyclones, storm surges, heat and cold waves, drought as well as related phenomena. Many of these extremes may be compound events, resulting from several factors. This symposium covers a wide range of topics related to high-impact weather and extreme climate events, from both short-term weather forecast and long-term climate change perspectives.

One focus is on the dynamics and predictability of extreme climate and weather events and improving forecasts of high-impact weather in the current climate. This paradigm is addressed by WWRP/THORPEX – an international research programme to accelerate improvements in the prediction of high-impact weather on short- to medium-range timescales. Scientific studies based on THORPEX field campaigns (such as T-PARC or T-NAWDEX) or related research projects will be particularly welcome.

Another focus follows from the concern that a change in the climate, especially an accelerating water cycle, may lead to more such extreme events. The ensuing impacts depend more on the changes in extremes than on changes in the mean state of the climate. This is addressed, for example, by various WCRP projects (e.g. CLIVAR, GEWEX and CliC). Presentations are requested on a range of issues within this topic area including the global distribution of weather and climate extremes; trends in frequencies and intensities of extremes; development of new tools and methods for the quantitative analysis of extremes; understanding the mechanisms responsible for the formation and evolution of extremes; as well as projections of extremes and associated uncertainties in the future climate.

Organisers and convenors

Organisers:
IAMAS (ICCL, ICDM), IAHS

Lead Convenors:
Xuebin Zhang (Canada), Richard Swinbank (United Kingdom), Ronald Stewart (Canada).

Co-convenors:
Lisa Alexander (Australia), Istvan Szunyogh (United States of America), Jun Xia (China), Richard Grotjahn (United States of America), Olga Zolina (Germany), Siegfried Schubert (United States of America)

For more information visit the IUGG 2011 web site.

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