Tropical ocean-atmosphere interactions play an important role in shaping regional and global climate on a broad range of spatiotemporal scales. Since the 1980s, in-situ and satellite observations, reanalysis products, and advancements in climate modeling have facilitated the analysis of variability in the tropical ocean basins. The patterns of interest cover a wide range of timescales, from intraseasonal (e.g., MJO) to interannual (e.g., ENSO, IOD, and Atlantic Nino) to decadal (e.g., IPO). The linkages of these patterns with tropical climate variability over land (e.g., monsoons) and the extratropics (e.g., storm track) have also received much attention. Recent studies have revealed new aspects of tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction, such as salinity and its influence on tropical cyclone intensification. Others have highlighted the interaction among the tropical Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Atlantic basins, and its role in seasonal prediction of the Asian summer monsoon and decadal ocean variability such as the so-called global warming "hiatus". Long-term changes in the Pacific Walker circulation have received renewed attention because they are intricately linked to the fate of ENSO under global warming. Moreover, changes in the Walker circulation can alter the regional patterns of climate change and thereby modulate climate feedbacks and the sensitivity to radiative forcing. Climate, its variability, and its long-term change under global warming are shaped by a variety of processes that are mutually interrelated. To examine these challenging issues from various perspectives and foster understanding of the role of tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction in the climate system, this session offers a forum to discuss recent progress in observational, modeling and theoretical studies of multi-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction in the tropics.

Tropical ocean-atmosphere interactions play an important role in shaping regional and global climate on a broad range of spatiotemporal scales. Since the 1980s, in-situ and satellite observations, reanalysis products, and advancements in climate modeling have facilitated the analysis of variability in the tropical ocean basins. The patterns of interest cover a wide range of timescales, from intraseasonal (e.g., MJO) to interannual (e.g., ENSO, IOD, and Atlantic Nino) to decadal (e.g., IPO). The linkages of these patterns with tropical climate variability over land (e.g., monsoons) and the extratropics (e.g., storm track) have also received much attention. Recent studies have revealed new aspects of tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction, such as salinity and its influence on tropical cyclone intensification. Others have highlighted the interaction among the tropical Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Atlantic basins, and its role in seasonal prediction of the Asian summer monsoon and decadal ocean variability such as the so-called global warming "hiatus". Long-term changes in the Pacific Walker circulation have received renewed attention because they are intricately linked to the fate of ENSO under global warming. Moreover, changes in the Walker circulation can alter the regional patterns of climate change and thereby modulate climate feedbacks and the sensitivity to radiative forcing. Climate, its variability, and its long-term change under global warming are shaped by a variety of processes that are mutually interrelated. To examine these challenging issues from various perspectives and foster understanding of the role of tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction in the climate system, this session offers a forum to discuss recent progress in observational, modeling and theoretical studies of multi-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction in the tropics.