Mathematical Theories of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (19frg269)

The Banff International Research Station will host the "Mathematical Theories of the Madden-Julian Oscillation" workshop in Banff from May 12, 2019 to May 19, 2019.

The Madden-Julian oscillation is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs as a fluctuation in winds, precipitation, and temperature with a period of 30 to 90 days over the tropical Indian Ocean/Western Pacific warm pool. The life of many many millions of people who live in those tropical areas depend of the fluctuations of such intraseasonal oscillations of atmospheric variability yet our state-of-art climate models fail to provide accurate predictions on these scales. The MJO is also known to affect the genesis of tropical cyclones and has a significant influence on the development of EL Niño and many other tropical extra-tropical teleconnection patterns.

A theoretical understanding through simplified mathematical models is key to gaining insight and the understanding needed to improve these models. An international team of experts from the universities of Hawaii, Michigan, UC Davis, and Victoria and from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are gathered at the Banff International Research station to focus of the recent developments in the theory of the Madden Julian Oscillation in order to compare and assess some of the most recent successful and yet somewhat conflicting mathematical models and come up with explanations on how to reconcile these theories and potentially provide novel ideas and recommendations for the future generations of climate models.

The Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) is a collaborative Canada-US-Mexico venture that provides an environment for creative interaction as well as the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and methods within the Mathematical Sciences, with related disciplines and with industry. The research station is located at The Banff Centre in Alberta and is supported by Canada's Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Alberta's Advanced Education and Technology, and Mexico's Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).