Professor Carlos R. Mechoso
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles

Home Short Biography (doc) Curriculum Vitae (pdf) Recent Publications Selected Publications Teaching

Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) 7127 Math Sciences Building 405 Hilgard Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90095-1565 Phone: (310) 825-3057 Fax: (310) 206-5219 mechoso@atmos.ucla.edu Personal Photographs (1, 2, 3, 4)

C. Roberto Mechoso is a Professor of Atmospheric Dynamics in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Mechoso's current research interests are ocean-atmosphere interactions, numerical weather prediction, meteorology and climatology of the Southern Hemisphere, and high performance computing. He is author of more that 200 scientific publications in his fields of interest. The goal of his research is to increase the understanding of climate variability using analyses of highly realistic simulations with numerical models, complemented by studies with observational data. Targeted topics have been El Nino/Southern Oscillation and its impacts, American monsoon systems, stratospheric warnings, instabilities on atmospheric fronts, and distributing computing for climate modeling.

Professional Preparation

University of Uruguay, Electro-Mechanical Engineering, Engineer 1974; Princeton, University, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, MA 1977, Ph.D. 1978.

Appointments

Distinguished Professor, UCLA, since July 2013.
Professor of Atmospheric Dynamics, UCLA, since July 1991.
Associate Professor of Atmospheric Dynamics, UCLA, July 1986 - June 1991.
Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Dynamics, UCLA, July 1981 - June 1986.
Adjunct Assistant Professor, UCLA, January 1979 - June 1981.
Research Assistant, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Program, Princeton University, January 1975 - December 1978.
Lecturer (Fluid Mechanics and Continuum Mechanics), School of Engineering, University of Uruguay, 1968-1974.
Directeur de Recherche, Ecole Polytechnique, France, October-November 2000.
Distinguished Visitor, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, 2007.

Committees

Mechoso is founding chair of the panel on the Variability of American Monsoon Systems (VAMOS of the CLImate VARiability (CLIVAR) component of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP). He was member of the CLIVAR Science Steering Group (SSG). He is member of the WCRP Drought Interest Working Group. Currently, Mechoso chairs the Science Working Group of the WCRP/CLIVAR VAMOS-Ocean-Clouds-Atmosphere-Land-Systems (VOCALS) project of the VAMOS panel.

Post VOCALS-REx Report

Introduction Aircraft-Based PART A Aircraft-Based PART B Ship-Based Modeling Confrontation

Recent Publications

Please find below a list of selected publications along with links to abstracts as well as to PDF files of the texts. By clicking on the name(s) of the author(s), you will be directed to an electronic abstract from the journal publisher, where you can download a copy of the text in PDF format. You can also download these PDFs directly from this website for your own personal and noncommercial use. If an electronic abstract is not available, simply click on pdf link next the citation; these articles are for your personal noncommercial use. These articles are copyrighted by the publisher.

De la Cámara, A., C. R. Mechoso, A. M. Mancho, E. Serrano, and K. Ide, 2013: Isentropic transport within the Antarctic polar night vortex: Rossby wave breaking evidence and Lagrangian structures. J. Atmos. Sci., 70, 2982-3001. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-12-0274.1. Lee. S. -K., C. R. Mechoso, C. Wang, and J. D. Neelin, 2013: Interhemispheric Influence of the Northern Summer Monsoons on the Southern Subtropical Anticyclones. J. Climate, 26, 10193-10204. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00106.1. Ma, H.-Y., H. Xiao, C. R. Mechoso, and Y. Xue, 2013: Sensitivity of global tropical climate to land surface processes: Mean state and interannual variability. J. Climate, 26, 1818-1837. Ma, H. –Y., C. R. Mechoso, Y. Xue, H. Xiao, J. D. Neelin, and X. Ji, 2013: On the Connection between Continental-Scale Land Surface Processes and the Tropical Climate in a Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere–Land System. J. Climate, 26, Issue 22 (November 2013), 9006-9025. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00819.1 Ji, X., J. D. Neelin, S. -K. Lee and C. R. Mechoso, 2014: Interhemispheric teleconnections from tropical heat sources in intermediate and simple models. J. Climate, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00017.1. Mechoso C. R., R. Wood, R. Weller, C. S. Bretherton, A. D. Clarke, H. Coe, C. Fairall, J. T. Farrar, G. Feingold, R. Garreaud, C. Grados, J. McWilliams, S. P. de Szoeke, S. E. Yuter, and P. Zuidema, 2014: Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Interactions in the Southeastern Pacific: The VOCALS Program. Bull. Amer. Meor. Soc. In press. Wang, C., L. Zhang, S. -K. Lee, L. Wu, and C. R. Mechoso, 2014: A global perspective on climate model biases. Nature Clim. Change, In-press. Xiao, H., C. R. Mechoso, R. Sun, J. Han, H. –L. Pan, S. Kim, C. Bretherton, and J. Teixeira, 2014: Diagnosis of the Marine Low Cloud Simulation in the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM) and the NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS). Atmos. Chem. Phys., In press. Agarwal, N., A. Köhl, C. R. Mechoso, and D. Stammer, 2014: On the transient response of the climate system to a meltwater input from Greenland. Submitted to J. Climate. Rodriguez-Fonseca, B., E. Mohino, C. R. Mechoso, C. Caminade, M. Gaetani, J. Garcia-Serrano, M. Biasutti, E. K. Vizy, K. Cook, Y. Xue, B. Fontaine, I. Polo, T. Losada, J. Bader, F. J. Doblas-Reyes, L. Goddard, S. Janicot, A. Arribas, L. Druyan, W. Lau, A. Colman, D. P. Rowell, F. Kucharski, and A. Voldoire, 2014: Climate Variability and Predictability of West African Droughts. Submitted to J. Climate.

Selected Publications

Please find below a list of selected publications along with links to abstracts as well as to PDF files of the texts. By clicking on the name(s) of the author(s), you will be directed to an electronic abstract from the journal publisher, where you can download a copy of the text in PDF format. You can also download these PDFs directly from this website for your own personal and noncommercial use. If an electronic abstract is not available, simply click on pdf link next the citation; these articles are for your personal noncommercial use. These articles are copyrighted by the publisher.

Mechoso, C. R., 1980: Baroclinic instability of flows along sloping boundaries. J. Atmos. Sci., 37, 1393-1399. (pdf) Mechoso, C. R., M. J. Suarez, K. Yamazaki, J. A. Spahr, and A. Arakawa, 1982: A study of the sensitivity of numerical forecasts to an upper boundary in the lower stratosphere. Mon. Wea. Rev. 110, 1984-1993. (pdf) Mechoso, C R. and D. L. Hartmann, 1982: An observational study of traveling planetary waves in the Southern Hemisphere. J. Atmos. Sci. 39, 1921-1935. (pdf) Farrara, J. D. and C. R. Mechoso, 1986: An observation study of the final warming in the Southern Hemisphere stratosphere. Geophys. Res. Lett., 13, 1232-1235. (pdf) Mechoso, C. R., A. O'Neill, V. D. Pope and J. D. Farrara, 1988: A study of the stratospheric final warming of 1982 in the Southern Hemisphere. Quart. J. R. Meteor. Soc.114, 1365-1384. (pdf) Mechoso, C. R. and S. W. Lyons, 1988: On the atmospheric response to SST anomales associated with the Atlantic warm event during 1984. J. Climate, 1, 422-428. (pdf) Mechoso, C. R., S. W. Lyons, and J. A. Spahr, 1990: The impact of sea surface temperature anomalies on the rainfall over northeast Brazil. J. Climate, 3, 812-826. (pdf) Hines, K. M. and C. R. Mechoso, 1991: Frontogenesis processes in the middle and upper troposphere. Mon. Wea. Rev., 119, 1225-1241. (pdf) Mechoso, C. R. and G. Perez-Iribarren, 1992: Streamflow in southeastern South America and the Southern Osciallation. J. Clim., 5, 1535-1539. (pdf) Mechoso, C. R., C.-C. Ma, J. D. Farrara, J. A. Spahr, and R. W. Moore, 1993: Parallelization and distribution of a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model. Mon. Wea. Rev., 121, 2062-2076. (pdf) Hines, K. M. and C. R. Mechoso, 1993: Influence of surface drag on the evolution fronts. Mon. Wea. Rev., 121, 1152-1175. (pdf). Pisciottano, G., A. Diaz, G. Cazes, and C. R. Mechoso, 1994: El Nino-Southern Oscillation impact on the rainfall in Uruguay. J. Clim., 7, 1286-1302. (pdf) Ma, C.-C., C. R. Mechoso, A. Arakawa, and J. D. Farrara, 1994: Sensitivity of a coupled ocean-atmosphere model to physical paramterizations. J. Clim., 7, 1882-1896. (pdf) Mesrobian, E., R. Muntz, J. R. Santos, E. C. Shek., C. R. Mechoso, J. D. Farrara, and P. Stolorz, 1994: Extracting spatio-temporal patterns from geoscience datasets. IEEE Workshop on Machine Vision. Seattle, Washington, IEEE Society Press, 92-103. (pdf) Quintanar, A. I. and C. R. Mechoso, 1995: Quasi-stationary waves in the Southern Hemisphere, Part I: Observational Data. J. Clim., 8, 2659-2672. (pdf) Quintanar, A. I. and C. R. Mechoso, 1995: Quasi-stationary waves in the Southern Hemisphere, Part II: Generation Mechanisms. J. Clim., 8, 2673-2690. (pdf) Mechoso, C. R., A W. Robertson, N. Barth, M. K. Davey, P. Delecluse, P. R. Gent, S. Ineson, B. Kirtman, M. Latif, H. Le Treut, T. Nagai, J. D. neelin, S. G. H. Philaner, J. Polcher, P. S. Schopt, T. Stockdale, M. J. Suarez, L. Terray, O. Thual, and J. J. Tribbia, 1995: The seasonal cycle over the Tropical Pacific In General Circulation Models. Mon. Wea. Rev., 123, 2825-2838. (pdf) Ma, C.-C. C. R. Mechoso, A. W. Robertson, and A. Arakawa, 1996: Peruvian stratus clouds and the tropical Pacific circulation -- a coupled ocean-atmosphere GCM study. J. Clim., 9, 1635-1645. (pdf) Mesrobian, E., R Muntz, E. Shek, S. Nittel, M. La Rouche, M. Kriguer, C. R. Mechoso, J. D. Farrara, P. E. Stolorz, and H. Nakamura, 1996: Mining geophysical data for knowledge. IEEE, Expert: Intelligent Systems and Applicatons, 11(5), 34-44. (pdf) Robertson, A W. and C. R. Mechoso, 1998: Interannual and decadal cycles in river flows of southeastern South America. J. Clim., 11, 2570-2581. (pdf) Diaz, A. F., C. D. Studzinski and C. R. Mechoso, 1998: Relationships between precipitation anomalies in Uruguay and southern Brazil and sea surface temperature in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. J. Clim., 11, 251-271. (pdf) Yu, J.-Y. and C. R. Mechoso, 1999: Links between annual variations of Peruvian stratocumulus clouds and of SST in the eastern equatorial Pacific. J. Clim.,12, 305-318. (pdf) Mariotti, A., C. R. Mechoso, and B. Legras, 2000: The evolution of the ozone "collar" in the Antarctic lower stratosphere during early August 1994. J. Atmos. Sci., 57(3), 402-414. (pdf) Robertson, A. W., C. R. Mechoso, and Y.-J. Kim, 2000: The influence of Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies on the North Atlantic Oscillation. J. Clim., 13, 122-138. (pdf) Robertson, A. W. and C. R. Mechoso, 2000: Interannual and interdecadal variability of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone. Mon. Wea. Rev., 128, 2947-2957. (pdf) Yu, J.-Y. and C. R. Mechoso, 2001: A coupled atmosphere-ocean GCM study of the ENSO cycle. J. Clim., 14, 2329-2350. (pdf) Robertson, A. W., C. R. Mechoso, and N. O. Garcia, 2001: Interannual predictions of the Parana River. Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 4236-4238. (pdf) Vial, F., A. Hertzog, C. R. Mechoso, C. Basdevant, P. Cocqurez, V. Dubourg, F. Nouel. 2001: A study of the dynamics of the equatorial lower stratosphere by use of ultra long duration balloons; Part I: Planetary scales. J. Geophys. Res., 106, D19, 22725-22743. (pdf) Hertzog, A., F. Vial, C. R. Mechoso, C. Basdevant, and P. Cocquerez, 2002: Quasi-Lagrangian measurements in the lower stratopshere reveal an energy peak associated with near-inertial waves. Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 70-1/70-4.(pdf) Mechoso, C. R., J. D. Neelin, and J.-Y. Yu, 2003: Testing simple models of ENSO. J. Atmos. Sci., 60, 305-318. (pdf) Maheu, C., A. Cazenave, and C. R. Mechoso, 2003: Water level fluctuations in the Plata Basin (South America) from Topex/Poseidon Satellite Altimetry. Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 43-1/43-4. (pdf) Robertson, A. W. and C. R. Mechoso, 2003: Circulation regimes and low-frequency oscillations in the South Pacific Sector. Mon. Wea. Rev., 131, 1566-1576. (pdf) Hertzog, A., F. Vial, C. Basdevant, and C. R. Mechoso, 2004: Some results on the accuracy of stratospheric analyses in the Northern hemisphere inferred from long duration balloon flights. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 130, 607-626. (pdf) Richter, I. and C. R. Mechoso, 2004: Orographic influences on the annual cycle of Namibian stratocumulus clouds. Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L24108. (pdf) Xue, Y., F. de Sales, C. R. Mechoso, C. A. Nobre, H.-M. Juang, 2006: Role of Land Surface Processes in South American Monsoon Development. J. Clim., 19, 741-762. (pdf) Richter, I. and C. R. Mechoso, 2006: Orographic Influences on Subtropical Stratocumulus. J. Atmos. Sci., 63, 2585-2601. (pdf) Gu, Y., K. N. Liou, Y. Xue, C. R. Mechoso, W. Li, and Y. Luo, 2006: Climate Effects of Different Aerosol Types in China Simulated by the UCLA AGCM. J. Geophys. Res., 111, D15201. (pdf) Losada, T., B. Rodriguez-Fonseca, C. R. Mechoso and H.-Y Ma, 2008: Impacts of SST Anomalies on the North Atlantic Atmospheric Circulation: A Case Study for the Northern Winter 1995-1996. Clim. Dyn. 29(7-8), 807-819. (pdf) Cazes-Boezio, G., D. Menemenlis, and C. R. Mechoso, 2008: Impact of ECCO Ocean-State Estimates on the Initialization of Seasonal Climate Forecasts. J. Clim., 21, 1929-1947. (pdf) Xiao, H. and C. R. Mechoso, 2009: Seasonal Cycle-El Nino Relationship: Validation of Hypotheses. J. Atmos. Sci., 66(6), 1633-1653. (pdf) Xiao, H. and C. R. Mechoso, 2009: Correlative Evolutions of ENSO and the Seasonal Cycle. J. Atmos. Sci. 66(4), 1041-1049. (pdf) Losada, T., B. Rodriguez-Fonseca, E. Mohino, J. Bader, S. Janicot, and C. R. Mechoso, 2011: Impact of Tropical SST Anomalies on West African Rainfall (pdf) De La Camara, A., A. M. Mancho, K. Ide, E. Serrano, and C. R. Mechoso, 2011: Routes of transport across the Antarctic polar vortex in the southern spring. J. Atmos. Sci. Sub Judice. (pdf) Gelinas, L.-J., R.L. Walterscheid, C. R. Mechoso, and G. Schubert, 2011: Inertial Waves in the Antarctic Polar Vortex: Identification, Dynamics and the Role of Background Vorticity. J. Atmos. Sci. Sub Judice. (pdf) Stammer, D., N. Agarwal, P. Hermann, A. Köhl, and C. R. Mechoso, 2011 Response of a Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model to Greenland Ice Melting. Surveys of Geophysics. In Press. (pdf) Zamboni, L., F. Kucharski, and C. Mechoso, 2011: Seasonal variations of the links between the interannual variability over South America and the South Pacific. Clim. Dyn., Published online, 22 June 2011. (pdf) Mohino, E., B. Rodriguez-Fonseca, C.R. Mechoso, S. Gervois, P. Ruti, and F. Chauvin, 2011: Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon. J. Climate doi: 10.1175/2011JCLI3988.1. (pdf) Teixeira, J., S. Cardoso, M. Bonazzola, J. Cole, A. DelGenio, C. DeMott, C. Franklin, C. Hannay, C. Jakob, Y. Jiao, J. Karlsson, H. Kitagawa, M. Köhler, A. Kuwano-Yoshida, C. LeDrian, J. Li, A. Lock, M. J. Miller, P. Marquet, J. Martins, C. R. Mechoso, E. v. Meijgaard, I. Meinke, P. M. A. Miranda, D. Mironov, R. Neggers, H. L. Pan, D. A. Randall, P. J. Rasch, B. Rockel, W. B. Rossow, B. Ritter, A. P. Siebesma, P. M. M. Soares, F. J. Turk, P. A. Vaillancourt, A. Von Engeln, and M. Zhao, 2011: Tropical and sub-tropical cloud transitions in weather and climate prediction models: the GCSS/WGNE Pacific Cross-section Intercomparison (GPCI). J. Climate. doi: 10.1175/2011JCLI3672.1. (pdf) Ma, H.-Y., X. Ji, J. D. Neelin, and C. R. Mechoso, 2011: Mechanisms for Precipitation Variability of the Eastern Brazil/SACZ Convective Margin. J. Climate, doi: 10.1175/2011JCLI4070.1. (pdf) Toniazzo, T., S. J. Abel, R. Wood, C. R. Mechoso, G. Allen, and L. C. Shaffrey, 2011: Large-scale and synoptic meteorology in the south-east Pacific during the observations campaign VOCALS-REx in austral Spring 2008. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 4977-5009. (pdf) Turner, A., K. Sperber, J. Slingo, G. Meehl, C.R. Mechoso, M. Kimoto, and A. Giannini, 2011: Modeling Monsoons: Understanding and predicting current and future behavior. The Global Monsoon System: Research and Forecast, 2nd Edition. . Chang, C. -P., Y. Ding, N.-C. Lau, R. H. Johnson, B. Wang, and T. Yasunari, Eds., World Scientific Series on Asia-Pacific Weather and Climate, Vol. 5, World Scientific Publication Company, 608 pp. April 2011. (pdf) Liebmann, B., and C.R. Mechoso, 2011: The South American Monsoon System. The Global Monsoon System: Research and Forecast, 2nd Edition. Chang, C. -P., Y. Ding, N.-C. Lau, R. H. Johnson, B. Wang, and T. Yasunari, Eds., World Scientific Series on Asia-Pacific Weather and Climate, Vol. 5, World Scientific Publication Company, 608 pp. (pdf) Wood, R., C. R. Mechoso, C. S. Bretherton, R. A. Weller, B. Huebert, F. Straneo, B. A. Albrecht, H. Coe, G. Allen, G. Vaughan, P. Daum, C. Fairall, D. Chand, L. Gallardo Klenner, R. Garreaud, C. Grados, D. S. Covert, T. S. Bates, R. Krejci, L. M. Russell, S. de Szoeke, A. Brewer, S. E. Yuter, S. R. Springston, A. Chaigneau, T. Toniazzo, P. Minnis, R. Palikonda, S. J. Abel, W. O. J. Brown, S. Williams, J. Fochesatto, J. Brioude, and K. N. Bower, 2011: The VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx): Goals, platforms, and field operations. Atmos. Chem. Phys.,11, 627-654. (pdf)

Teaching

Professor Mechoso is currently teaching AOS 1: Climate Change: From Puzzles to Policy; AOS 200A: Introduction to Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics; AOS 201B: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics II; and AOS 212A: Numerical Methods in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics; AOS 296E: Advanced Topics in Atmospheric Sciences: Numerical Modeling of Atmosphere and Oceans. 1. Climate Change: From Puzzles to Policy (4) Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Overview of fundamentals of Earth's climate, including greenhouse effect, water and chemical cycles, outstanding features of atmospheric and ocean circulation, and feedback between different system components. Exciting and contentious scientific puzzles of climate system, including causes of ice ages, greenhouse warming, and el niño. Importance of climate science and prediction to society, with emphasis on science's role in identifying, qualifying, and solving environmental problems such as ozone hole and greenhouse warming. P/NP or letter grading. 200A. Introduction to Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid (4) Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Recommended requisite: Physics 131. Thermodynamics of two component (moist/salty) fluids. Thermodynamic diagrams and stability. Saturation and moist processes. Hydrostatics. Equations of fluid motion in rotating coordinate systems. Scales of motion and dominant balances: geostrophic, gradient, and thermal wind. Circulation and vorticity. Boundary layers and turbulence. Elementary waves. S/U or letter grading. 201B. Geophysical Fluid Dynamics II (4) Description: Lecture, three hours. Requisite: course 125 or 201A. Anelastic approximation. Small-scale gravity waves in atmosphere. Critical levels. Kelvin/Helmholtz instability. Quasi-static oscillations of planetary atmosphere. Equatorial Kelvin and mixed Rossby-gravity (Yanai) waves. Baroclinic and barotropic instabilities in continuously stratified system. General circulation of atmosphere. Jet streams, eddies, storm tracks. Propagation of planetary waves. Wave-mean flow interactions. Noninteraction theorems. Letter grading. 212A. Numerical Methods in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (4) Description: Lecture, three hours. Requisite or corequisite: course 201A. Basic numerical methods for initial-boundary value problems in fluid dynamics, with emphasis on applications to atmospheric and oceanographic problems. Finite-difference methods and truncation error. Linear and nonlinear computational instability. Computational modes and computational boundary conditions. Nonlinear shallow-water equation model. Spectral methods. S/U (for majors with consent of instructor after successful completion of written and oral comprehensive examination and for nonmajors at discretion of major department) or letter grading. 296A. Advanced Topics in Atmospheric Sciences: Numerical Modeling of Atmosphere (2) Description: Discussion, two hours. Advanced study and analysis of current topics in atmospheric sciences. Discussion of current research and literature in research specialty of faculty member teaching course. May be repeated for credit. S/U grading.