Observations are the foundation for understanding the climate system. Yet, currently available land meteorological data are highly fractured into various global, regional, and national holdings for different variables and time scales, from a variety of sources, and in a mixture of formats. Added to this, many data are still inaccessible for analysis and usage. To meet modern scientific and societal demands as well as emerging needs such as the provision of climate services, it is essential that we improve the management and curation of available land-based meteorological holdings. We need a comprehensive global set of data holdings, of known provenance, that is truly integrated both across essential climate variables (ECVs) and across time scales to meet the broad range of stakeholder needs. These holdings must be easily discoverable, made available in accessible formats, and backed up by multitiered user support. The present paper provides a high-level overview, based upon broad community input, of the steps that are required to bring about this integration. The significant challenge is to find a sustained means to realize this vision. This requires a long-term international program. The database that results will transform our collective ability to provide societally relevant research, analysis, and predictions in many weather- and climate-related application areas across much of the globe.
Recent studies have shown that the tropical belt (TB) has progressively expanded since at least the late 1970s. This trend has been largely attributed to the radiative forcing due to greenhouse gas (GHG) increase and stratospheric ozone depletion, even if an influence of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies has been also suggested. The impact of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) on the TB width is investigated in this work. The study is performed by using both Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) and idealized simulations, produced by the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model, version 3 (CAM3) GCM and reanalysis data [40-yr European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-40), ERA-Interim, and Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA)].Reanalyses show that a switch of the PDO from a positive to a negative phase can lead to a significant TB expansion during the equinoxes. This effect, indicating a possible PDO contribution to the widening that characterized the TB width during the last decades, is not correctly reproduced by model simulations. Deficiencies in the sensitivity of model-simulated convective processes to SST anomalies are suggested as a possible cause of the TB widening underestimation.
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