The climate community is still faced with large uncertainties in estimating possible climate changes in the coming decades and quantifying the relative role of anthropogenic contribution to climate change. Although most modern climate models are able to reproduce reasonably well global climatologies and patterns of interannual variation, they still struggle with pervasive biases and the representation of some climate phenomena involving the interaction and coupling between the atmosphere, ocean, and marine biogeochemistry. The problem is compounded by limited understanding of some of the physical mechanisms and physical-biological interactions.

Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUSs) are areas of important biological productivity and large fluxes of energy and matter in the atmosphere, in the ocean and between the two. However, their future responses to intense anthropogenic pressure is uncertain. This research school aims at summarizing the current state of scientific understanding of EBUSs, including both observational and theoretical aspects of their coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics and of their marine biogeochemistry. In particular, while recent regional modelling efforts have shown that it is possible to simulate the ocean-atmosphere dynamics of upwelling, EBUSs remain poorly represented in climate models, and improved observations and theoretical understanding of the main physical and biogeochemical processes that link planetary and basin scales with regional scales are required in order to model the responses and interactions of EBUSs with large-scale forcing.

The ICTP-CLIVAR Summer School on “Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems: Assessing and understanding their changes and predicting their future” will be jointly organised by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the CLIVAR Eastern Boundary Upwelling System Research Foci, from 15-21 July 2019, in Trieste, Italy. This school will focus on coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics in upwelling systems, their biogeochemical and ecological processes, and their sensitivity to climate variability and change. Afternoons will be devoted to practical sessions involving the use of circulation models, analyses of relevant data sets, and discussion of current research.

The application to the Summer School is now open until 15 April 2019.

A limited number of grants are available to support the attendance of selected participants, with priority given to participants from developing countries. There is no registration fee.

The ICTP-CLIVAR Summer School on Oceanic Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems is co-sponsored by the IOC-UNESCO.