This book lays out a science plan for a major, international, 15-year research program. The past 10 years have seen significant progress in studies of short-term climate variations, in particular for the region of the tropical Pacific Ocean and the El Nino/Southern Oscillation phenomenon. Some forecast skill with lead times as long as a year in advance has already been developed and put to use. The GOALS program plans to capitalize on this progress by expanding efforts on observations and seasonal-to-interannual predictions to the remainder of the tropics and to higher latitudes.

Table of Contents


FRONT MATTER
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 INTRODUCTION
2 THE GOALS PROGRAM AND ITS SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES
3 LARGE-SCALE INTERACTIONS AMONG THE UPPER OCEAN, ATMOSPHERE, AND LAND
4 ELEMENTS AND GROWTH OF THE PROGRAM
5 DATA MANAGEMENT
6 RELATIONSHIP OF GOALS TO OTHER PROGRAMS
7 GOALS PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: PRESENT STATUS OF SHORT TERM CLIMATE PREDICTION
APPENDIX B: THE 1993 GOALS STUDY CONFERENCE
APPENDIX C: ACRONYMS AND OTHER INITIALS
REFERENCES