Advanced School and Workshop on American Monsoons: progress and future plans

Introduction

The Advanced School and Workshop will take place on August 19-24, 2019 at São Paulo, Brazil, it will bring together scientists and students for presenting and discussing the progress in research on the American monsoons and their role in the global monsoon system, and for planning future activities. The deadline for requesting financial support: April 14, 2019, Registration deadline: June 9, 2019.


The American monsoons are important components of the global monsoon system. A very high percentage of the annual precipitation over most of South America occurs during the summer monsoon, including subtropical regions. The economy, agriculture, water and energy resources and, consequently, the livelihoods of the great majority of South America population are heavily dependent on the summer monsoon. Also the North American monsoon provides crucial water resources for Mexico, Central American countries, several island nations in the Caribbean and parts of the southwest USA. Predicting the intensity of American monsoon rainfall is not only a regional challenge, but is also relevant in the framework of a global sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasting system.

The Advanced School and Workshop are fostered by the Working Group on American Monsoons, one of the regional monsoons working groups established under the coordination of the CLIVAR/GEWEX Monsoons Panel.

Organizers:
- Alice M. Grimm (Federal University of Parana, UFPR, Brazil
- Iracema F. A. Cavalcanti (National Institute for Space Research, CPTEC/INPE, Brazil)
- Manoel A. Gan (National Institute for Space Research, CPTEC/INPE, Brazil)
- Fred Kucharski (ICTP-Trieste, Italy)


Topics to be covered include:

  • Global context, main features, life cycle of the American monsoons;
  • Variability on diurnal, mesoscale and synoptic time scales; sub-seasonal to seasonal variability;
  • Variability on interannual and decadal/interdecadal time scales; modulation of extreme events by climate variability; longer term variability and climate change;
  • Predictability and prediction (weather, sub-seasonal, seasonal and longer lead times); modelling studies;
  • Impacts on society; future challenges; plans for observational studies, diagnostic analyses, and modelling activities. Discussions on future collaboration.
 
Participation
The targeted audience includes scientists and advanced undergraduate and graduate students, interested in the American monsoons and their role in the global monsoon system. There is no registration fee, but the number of participants is limited. Participants are encouraged to make a presentation. If interested, please submit a short abstract of the contribution in the online registration form.
As a rule, support for travel and subsistence expenses should be secured by the participants. However, limited funds are available for graduate students and early career researchers (PhD obtained within the last 5 years) who are nationals of, and working in, a developing Latin American country, subject to selection by the activity organizers. Such support is available only for those who attend the entire activity. Those applying for support are requested to submit an abstract. As the activity will be conducted in English, participants should have an adequate knowledge of that language.
 
Confirmed Speakers
Pedro Silva Dias - University of São Paulo, Brazil
Marcelo Barreiro - Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay
Cecilia Hidalgo – University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Leila Carvalho - University of California at Santa Barbara, USA
Francina Dominguez - University of Illinois at Urbana, USA
Rong Fu - University of Texas at Austin, USA
Tereza Cavazos - CICESE, Mexico
Alice M. Grimm - Federal University of Parana, Brazil
Iracema F. A. Cavalcanti - National Institute for Space Research, Brazil
Manoel Gan - National Institute for Space Research, Brazil
Maria Assuncao F. da Silva Dias - University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Mary Kayano - National Institute for Space research, Brazil
Jose Marengo - National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alerts, Brazil