Investigating Internal Dynamics and Climate Variability Using Networks

University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee WI

Investigators

Abstract

This project is based on the idea that the climate system may be understood as a network of nonlinearly coupled structures, an approach developed under a previous NSF award (ATM-0438612). Work published under that award indicates that major shifts, or regime transitions, in the climate system result from changes in the synchronicity and coupling strength among climate modes. The investigators will extend their previous results in two ways: 1) They will further explore the dynamics of synchronization events by analyzing the underlying connections between the modes of the network, seeking a single "pace keeper" mode for the internal dynamical shifts in global temperature trends, and further investigate the physics of synchronization events. The idea, here, is that the teleconnection patters comprise nodes of a network, which become synchronized prior to major shifts in the climate system. 2) They will apply new network-theoretical tools to climate records, such as "communities" of modes, optimal modularity, and "minimum spanning trees." These concepts describe and define properties of the network that is hypothesized to represent the climate system. Broader impacts of this work are in encouraging student participation in professional meetings, through graduate student training, and in disseminating the value of and results from network theory to a broad community of investigators. Society will benefit from a greater understanding of climate events.