ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science research program: Drivers of spatial and temporal climate variability in extra-tropical Australia [ 2011-07-01 - 2017-07-01 ]

Research Project

Researchers: Dr Dietmar Dommenget (Principal investigator) ,  Dr Duncan Ackerley ,  Yiling Liu

Brief description

The aim of this research program is to conduct a fundamental re-examination of convection processes that when completed should substantially improve the physical foundation of climate models. This has the potential to lead to significant improvements in the ability of climate models to reliably simulate rainfall over key regions in Australia over a variety of time scales.

This will help predict changes to precipitation in important regions and put in place infrastructure to adapt to changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events.

Full description

Australia’s climate is profoundly affected by the interaction of the oceans with the atmosphere as seen by the effects of the El Nino Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole.

Through exploring the slow-moving oceanic drivers of climate change, the Centre’s researchers can reveal long-term changes. This will allow researchers to estimate rainfall variability over the coming decades, determine the global climate phenomena that will impact Australia and uncover feedback mechanisms between the ocean and atmosphere that may affect weather patterns years ahead.

This research will dramatically improve our understanding of the large ocean and atmosphere interactions and give Australia the capacity to predict and prepare for climate conditions long before they manifest.