NAME: North American Monsoon Experiment

Summary

The North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME) is an internationally coordinated, joint CLIVAR-GEWEX process study aimed at determining the sources and limits of predictability of warm season precipitation over North America, with emphasis on time scales ranging from seasonal-to-interannual. It focuses on observing and understanding the key components of the North American monsoon system and their variability within the context of the evolving land surface-atmosphere-ocean annual cycle. It seeks to improve understanding of the key physical processes that must be parameterized for improved simulation with dynamical models. NAME employs a multi-scale (tiered) approach with focused monitoring, diagnostic and modeling activities in the core monsoon region, on the regional-scale and on the continental-scale. NAME will be part of the CLIVAR/VAMOS program, US CLIVAR Pan American research, and the GEWEX America Prediction Project (GAPP).

Objectives:

The scientific objectives of NAME are to promote a better understanding and more realistic simulation of: The evolution of the North American monsoon system and its variability; The response of the warm season atmospheric circulation and precipitation patterns over North America to slowly varying, potentially predictable surface boundary conditions; Feedbacks between land surface processes and precipitation on seasonal-to-interannual time scales; The diurnal heating cycle and its relationship to the seasonally varying mean climate; and Intraseasonal aspects of the monsoon.

Maximum (North) Latitude: 50.00, Minimum (South) Latitude: 5.00
Minimum (West) Longitude: -125.00, Maximum (East) Longitude: -72.00