Teamwork

TOSCA/ICTP training school (Trieste, 13-17 October 2014)

Turn your team project into a successful proposal: Teamwork topics.

Team 1: Scratching below the (ocean) surface: identification of atmospheric responses to 11-yr solar cycle

The response of the lowermost atmosphere to radiation perturbations in the course of the solar cycle has been traditionally explained in terms of forcing from above. That is, ozone absorption of UV radiation alters the mean state of the stratosphere in solar maximum and stratosphere-troposphere dynamical coupling brings solar signals downward, altering tropospheric circulation. This chain of mechanisms may explain atmospheric responses in winter months but may not be suffice to describe annually averaged signals. This team will focus primarily on solar signals at the ocean surface (and below) both in global and regional scales. Having established robust oceanic responses we are asking whether observed solar signals in the troposphere can be explained by surface changes alone. The main objective of our team is to highlight that the role of the oceans in shaping tropospheric responses to the solar cycle is not well understood and to convince potential funding agencies (and ourselves) that more research is needed to this direction.

Team 1 FAQ

How can you prepare in advance?

All data to be used are freely available and will be provided in the classroom. Data will be in netCDF format. We will be using CDO operators (https://code.zmaw.de/projects/cdo) to manipulate files and calculate some statistics. Solar signals will be extracted with a multiple linear regression tool written in R language. No prior knowledge of the R language is needed. The choice of package for plotting is open, although the use of the NCL language (http://ncl.ucar.edu/) is strongly encouraged. For more information see at http://stergios-misios.blogspot.gr/2014/09/tosca-training-school-hands-on.html

What will you produce during the teamwork?

A 30-minute presentation and a 1-page executive project summary. The outcome will be evaluated by a panel of experts on the final day of the school.

Who is supervising the Team?

Team support and guidance will be provided by Dr. Stergios Misios, a Postdoc Researcher at the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. For more information: www.stergios-misios.blogspot.com email: misios at auth.gr

Who might this Team appeal to?

Members of this team are enthusiasts on climate dynamics. Students with some knowledge of tropical dynamics are encouraged to join the team. Some familiarity with the circulation of the stratosphere may be helpful.  

Team 2: Solar influences on the Earth's environment-space weather

Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME) can significantly influence interplanetary space, the near-Earth environment, and the atmosphere. These phenomena can have serious implications for humans at Earth affecting satellites, astronauts, telecommunications and electric grids, and perhaps even weather and climate. Together with your team, you will make a case study of particular interplanetary CME (ICME) events and their effect on the Earth's environment, with a focus on the atmosphere. You can employ  a wide variety of different observations, reanalysis, and model data in your analysis, and your Team Supervisor will guide you in your use of these resources. Your chosen events could also be studied in relation to cosmic ray variations or so-called Forbush Decrease events, caused by ICMEs passing the Earth. Students may study connections between these events and properties of the Earth's atmosphere (wind, pressure, clouds etc.). The team will have a choice to decide in which direction they will develop their research with the aim of outlining a serious research project.

Team 2 FAQ

How can you prepare in advance?

All available data and resources for this teamwork activity will be provided on the webpage http://oh.geof.unizg.hr/index.php?option=com_content&id=146 or freely accessible on the internet. Students can read some of the given literature (on the webpage above) or check data and resources in advance (list will be updated in next few days). Although the knowledge of MS Excel will be probably enough to perform all tasks needed to do the teamwork, some knowledge of Matlab will be also useful to analyze the larger amounts of data.

What will you produce during the teamwork?

A presentation and short written piece in the format of a scientific proposal, to be delivered on the final day of the school. There is also the potential for future collaborative work to come out of the project for those who are most interested.

Who is supervising the Team?

Team support and guidance will be provided by Dr. Jaša Čalogović (http://oh.geof.unizg.hr/index.php/about-hvar-observatory/staff/jasa), a Postdoc Research Fellow at Hvar Observatory, Faculty of Geodesy, University of Zagreb. For all questions you can e-mail him at jcalogovic at geof.hr

Who might this Team appeal to?

It may appeal to all interested students in this topic, although some knowledge about the solar physics, CMEs and cosmic rays would be helpful.

Team 3: Where, on Earth, is a solar-cloud signal?

A good question, a few commas removed from exasperation. Together with a small team of fellow students, you will explore this question using gridded cloud data from the modern Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite instruments. You will isolate specific types of cloud, and accumulate these data for statistical analyses. Although the wider research theme is set, it is you and your team who will decide what cloud types/properties to specifically examine, how to approach it, and to drive the project forward yourselves.

Team 4 FAQ

How can you prepare in advance?

We will be working in the modern iPython Notebook environment (using Python 2.7). This language is very user friendly, the most difficult parts of the code you will need are pre-written. However, having some familiarity with the language will help immensely, and allow you to focus on the science: I recommend reading parts of the e-book on Python for the Atmospheric Sciences by Johnny Wei-Bing Lin, freely available in pdf on http://www.johnny-lin.com/pyintro/ After, I recommend that you see some visual demos of what the iPython Notebook can do by watching some YouTube videos such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_TzRaK9kpU

What will you produce during the teamwork?

A presentation, to be delivered on the last day, and short written piece in the format of a scientific proposal. There is also the potential for future collaborative work to come out of the project for those who are most interested.

Who is supervising the Team?

Team support and guidance will be provided by Dr. Benjamin Laken, a Postdoc Research Fellow in the Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo. You can find information about him at www.benlaken.com, or e-mail him with questions at blaken at geo.uio.no

Who might this Team appeal to?

This is a team for enthusiastic people, who enjoy working with computers. The most important factor in selecting the Team is your motivation and interest in the topic. However, some knowledge of the troposphere and clouds would help, as would having at some familiarity with programming/scripting in any language (even if this is simply from preparing in advance as described below).