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 91̽»¨s. Degree projects at the Department of Marine 91̽»¨s are done independently and must be written and assessed individually.
Subject: Oceanography
Project level: Masters
91̽»¨ 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.
91̽»¨
Sebastiaan Swart
Email: sebastiaan.swart@marine.gu.se