COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: P2C2--ORBITAL TIMESCALE CLIMATE VARIABILITY: SIMULATION OF MECHANISMS AND COMPARISON WITH PALEOCLIMATE OBSERVATIONS

Funding is provided to examine the tropical response to orbital forcing. Specifically, the researchers plan to address three science questions: 1) How does the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) vary on orbital timescales? 2) How does the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) respond to orbital forcing? and 3) What mechanisms control tropical temperatures on orbital timescales? The broader impacts include cross-institutional collaboration, participation of NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) in a paleoclimate modeling exercise, and the training of a graduate student and post doctoral scholar.