Pacific Region Panel

About Us

15th CLIVAR Pacific Region Panel meeting in 2023 (Melbourne, Australia)

Jing Li

Terms of Reference

1.To oversee and facilitate the implementation of CLIVAR in the Pacific sector in order to meet the objectives outlined in the Science and Implementation Plans in collaboration with other relevant panels, research foci groups and task teams. This includes :

–Understanding the dynamics and teleconnexions of ENSO on multiple timescales (in relation with ENSO in a warming world RF)

–Indo-Pacific Decadal Variability and its global connexion (in relation with Climate Dynamics Panel)

–Ocean mass and property transports and their relationships to the Pacific climate and other basins (in relation with other basin panels)

– Regional impacts of climate variability and changes (sea level, ecosystems, extreme events, etc) (in relation with regional sea level RF and upwelling RF)

- Supporting the development of a sustainable tropical observing system (in relation with the TPOS-2020 steering committee)

2. To coordinate the activities of the Pacific nations, facilitating cooperative efforts and coordinating work within the boundaries of the various nations as well as outside those boundaries. To provide a forum for exchange and discussion of national plans in the Pacific and to facilitate observational and modelling efforts and data sharing

3. To identify persistent model errors and interact with GSOP, OMDC, WCRP (AGCMs) to contribute to model improvement (e.g. cold tongue bias, SPCZ, etc.)

4. To liaise with the Ocean Observation Panel for Climate (OOPC), Global Ocean Observing Systems (GOOS) and Global Observation Panel for Climate (GCOS), with the Joint WMO-IOC Collaborative Board, and other relevant groups to ensure that CLIVAR benefits from and contributes to observations in GOOS and GCOS

5. To liaise with IGBP or IHDP programs (FutureEarth) to assess regional ecosystems or societal impacts of global warming related physical changes in the Pacific  

6. To advise the CLIVAR SSG of progress and obstacles toward successful implementation of CLIVAR in the Pacific.

Tropical Pacific Decadal Variability Working Group (TPDV WG)

This working group aims to develop our understanding of the nature and predictability of TPDV, its representation in climate models, and its projected changes.

ENSO Conceptual Model Working Group

The working group is to bring experts of ENSO theory, modelling, and observations together to review knowledge on ENSO conceptual models and identify possible avenues for improved conceptual models that can more fully account for ENSO complexity.

ENSO Metrics

The CLIVAR ENSO metrics package - a community-wide effort led by the CLIVAR Pacific Region Panel, in close collaboration with PCMDI, IPSL/LOCEAN, and NOAA - was developed to evaluate ENSO variability, teleconnections, and processes in climate models.

Indonesia Throughflow Task Team (ITF-TT)

The overarching goal of the Indonesia Throughflow Task Team (ITF-TT) is to identify scientific gaps of ITF knowledge and develop an integrated strategy towards an internationally sustained ITF observing system.

CLIVAR-PICES Cooperation

CLIVAR and PICES have had demonstrated long-time successful interdisciplinary cooperation, through the cooperation of several PICES Working Groups (WGs) as well as other joint activities.

Pacific Panel Members

Name Role Institute Country
Sophie Cravatte Co-Chair 2024 LEGOS/IRD France (currently based in New Caledonia)
Andrea Taschetto Co-Chair 2025 University of New South Wales Australia/Brazil
Ivonne Montes Member 2024 Geophysics Institute of Peru Peru
Kristopher Karnauskas Member 2025 University of Colorado Boulder USA
Cristian Martinez Villalobos Member 2024 Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez Chile
Tsubasa Kohyama Member 2025 Ochanomizu University Japan
Dhrubajyoti Samanta Member 2025 Nanyang Technological University Singapore
Sayaka Yasunaka Member 2025 Tohoku University Japan
Sharmila Sur Member 2026 Burueau of Meteorology Australia
Yassir Eddebbar Member 2026 Scripps Institution of Oceanography USA
Anna-Lena Deppenmeier Member 2026 NCAR USA
Fan Wang Member 2024 Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences China
Jing-Jia Luo Member 2024 Nanjing University of Science Information and Technology China
Shayne McGregor Ex officio Monash University Australia
Michael McPhaden Ex officio Chair / Tropical Moored Buoy Implementation Panel USA
Antonietta Capotondi Ex officio NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory USA

The ICPO contact for the CLIVAR Pacific Region Panel is Jing Li.

PRP Endorsed Activities

Northwestern Pacific Ocean Circulation and Climate Experiment (NPOCE)

The NPOCE is designed to observe, simulate, and understand the dynamics of the NWP (Northwestern Pacific) ocean circulation and its role in low-frequency modulations of regional and global climate including the western Pacific warm pool variability, the ITF variability, ENSO, the East Asian Monsoon (EAM), and the NWP cyclones.

Southwest Pacific Ocean Circulation and Climate Experiment (SPICE)

Climate in the South West Pacific region varies due to superimposed effects of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and other signals including seasonal variations, global warming and natural decadal-scale variability.