Southern Hemisphere Meteorology and Oceanography

b y Ho w a r d J. Di a m o n d , Ne i l Pl u m m e r , a n d Ke v i n Wa l s h

ince 1983, and approximately every three years since, the American Meteorological Society The Ninth International Conference on Southern S (AMS) Committee on Meteorology and Oceanog- Hemisphere Meteorology and Oceanography raphy of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) has planned and staged an international conference focusing on Wh a t : nearly 500 scientists and researchers from the unique aspects of atmospheric and oceanic sci- around the world gathered to focus on and discuss the weather, climate, and ocean ence in the SH. Scientific inquiry in SH meteorology processes of the ocean-dominated Southern and oceanography has expanded considerably over Hemisphere. the past 50 yr, beginning with the International Wh e n : 9–13 February 2009 Geophysical Year of 1957/58 and continuing into the Wh e r e : , Victoria, International Polar Year of 2007/08. A number of fac- tors have driven this progress: 1) increasing numbers of observations of the SH, particularly in the ocean motely observed data by satellite; and 4) operational (e.g., Argo floats, moored arrays in the Indian and implementation of improved numerical weather Atlantic Oceans, and Southern Ocean monitoring); prediction models that has resulted in better forecasts 2) the importance of the generally data-sparse SH in both hemispheres. The opportunities provided by to global climate and meteorological knowledge these advances have both increased understanding has been underscored by recent increases in ocean- and appreciation of the role of the SH and elevated observing systems coupled with recent advances in the importance of the International Conference on ocean modeling; 3) the increased availability of re- SH Meteorology and Oceanography (ICSHMO). The ninth in the conference series (9ICSHMO), the culmination of more than two years of planning AFFILIATIONS: Di a m o n d —NOAA/National Climatic Data and coordination, was a joint venture by the AMS and Center, Silver Spring, Maryland; Pl u m m e r —Australian Bureau of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Meteorology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Wa l s h —, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Society (AMOS). On many levels, the conference was CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Howard Diamond, NOAA/ a great success, despite the travel difficulties and ex- National Climatic Data Center, 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1202, pense of getting to Australia (coupled with the global Silver Spring, MD 20910 financial crisis), a record-breaking heat wave, and E-mail: [email protected] bushfires nearby. There were 471 registered attendees DOI:10.1175/2009BAMS2892.1 from 27 countries, which was the second greatest at-

In final form 15 September 2009 tendance ever for an ICSHMO conference. ©2010 American Meteorological Society Attracting both students and scientists from developing countries has always been a priority for

AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY february 2010 | 245 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/25/21 07:01 PM UTC ICSHMO, and the conference provided travel support science initiatives. All short and some extended ab- to attendees from both categories. More than half of stracts are posted on the conference Web site (www. the nations represented were developing countries bom.gov.au/events/9icshmo/). The theme of the (including 14 delegates from Pacific Island countries), conference (chosen well in advance of the meeting) and there were 81 students in attendance. was “Extremes: Climate and Water in the Southern With more than 560 abstracts submitted to the Hemisphere,” and unfortunately this theme turned conference, the result was a comprehensive series of out to be all too appropriate: the weekend before the high-quality oral and poster presentations in areas conference and less than 100