Title	Characterization of the Meridional Temperature Gradient (MTG)
Collaborators	James Risbey, Alix Gitelman, Richard Rosen, Robert Kass
Keywords	meridional temperature gradient, climate, weather
Abstract	The MTG is a fundamental indicator of climate and weather. Changes in MTG could reflect, or have implications for, planetary circulation regimes. Despite its importance, the MTG has only been loosely defined until very recently. Our work on the MTG is directed at providing dynamically meaningful and observationally tractable definitions of the MTG, and analyzing MTG indices for the presence of short term and long term trends.