Investigating the role of small scale ocean energetics on the stability of the vertical water column using high-resolution glider data
This is a suggestion for a Degree Project for Bachelor's and Master's levels at the Department of Marine Sciences. Degree projects at the Department of Marine Sciences are done independently and must be written and assessed individually.
Subject: Oceanography
Project level: Masters
Contact person: Sebastiaan Swart
Project description
Amplified small scale ocean energetics occurring at the submesoscale (1-10 km) have a direct impact on the air-sea fluxes of heat and carbon and are thus critical to the global climate.
Submesoscale processes impact air-sea heat and carbon fluxes through enhanced vertical buoyancy fluxes, which lead to deep subduction events below the oceanic mixed layer, thereby altering the air-sea gradients.
Another key submesoscale process is the interaction between intense surface winds and ocean flow fields, such as fronts and eddies. Here, cross-frontal advection can generate deep mixing and provide a pathway for heat and carbon to access the deep ocean.
In December 2018, we deployed an autonomous underwater robot (Seaglider) in the Drake Passage south of Chile, where we obtained a valuable dataset of high-resolution temperature and salinity profiles.
In conjunction with co-located reanalysis wind fields, these data can provide some important insights to the role of small scale processes on climatically-varying properties in the Southern Ocean.
Objectives and approach of project
- Search relevant literature, specifically on air-sea interaction and wind-front interactions.
- Analyze the available multi-month Seaglider dataset in the Southern Ocean
- Provide simple analysis and interpretation of the wind data with horizontal density gradients of the ocean
- Some competency in or a willingness to learn Matlab/Python or alternate code is needed.
PhD thesis
The project has prospects to lead into a PhD thesis.
Contact
Sebastiaan Swart
Email: sebastiaan.swart@marine.gu.se