Pan American Climate Studies (PACS) Data at UCAR/JOSS/NOAA/CODIAC

Although the principal focus of PACS is on seasonal and interannual variability on a regional (>500 km) scale, higher frequency phenomena such as the diurnal cycle and the 40-60 day Madden-Julian Oscillation and mesoscale phenomena such as sea breeze circulations and circulations forced by orography, coastal geometry, and contrasts in vegetation will be taken into account, as needed, with reference to the maintenance of the mean state and in the interpretation, diagnosis, and modeling of variability on the seasonal to interannual time scale.

PACS falls within the scope of the U.S. Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System (GOALS) Program, but because of its emphasis on continental precipitation it will also have a close connection with the Global Energy and Water cycle EXperiment (GEWEX) and its subprograms. PACS will encompass a wide range of activities, including climate monitoring, modeling, dataset development, empirical studies, and intensive process studies (field projects).