Tag: Oceans

Shane Keating

Featured by Shane, posted in Contributors, Featured Contributors

If you looked down on the ocean from space, you would see an intricate tapestry of mesoscale eddies , 30-300 km across, interwoven with submesoscale vortices and fronts on scales of 1-30 km, and surface waves and turbulence on scales smaller than 1 km. My research uses cutting-edge developments in the fields of applied mathematics, satellite remote sensing, and physical oceanography to understand the profound influence of these features on ocean circulation, climate, and marine ecology.

Using ultra-high-resolution observations from land, sea, and space, we are now beginning to unravel the ocean’s tapestry of eddies, fronts and waves and understand, model, and predict their role in mixing and dispersion in the ocean.

 

Links:

Personal website
UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics
ARC Centre of Excellence in Climate Extremes
Articles on The Conversation

Follow my on Twitter @science_shane

 

 

 

Advertisement

Moninya Roughan

by Shane, posted in Contributors

I strive to create an inclusive work environment for my team that represents the diversity found in our society. My goal is to make a fundamental contribution to oceanography in Australasia and internationally. To do this, I support my team to be the best that they can be while solving exciting problems and undertaking industry relevant research.

Presently I lead a vibrant team of coastal and regional oceanographers. We investigate the complex dynamical processes occurring on the continental shelf of SE Australia through a combination of observations and numerical modelling. I co-lead the NSW node of Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System, and I lead the coastal moorings radar and glider program within the state of NSW. I supervise Phd Students, postdocs and marine technicians all of whom are striving to understand the challenging and complex oceanic environment.

Links:

MetOcean Solutions Ltd, New Zealand
UNSW Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab
UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics

Follow me on Twitter: @moninya

Amandine Schaeffer

by Shane, posted in Contributors

This photo was taken on the French research vessel L’Astrolabe, on the way to Antarctica. I was volunteering to launch XBTs (Expendable Bathythermograph) during the voyage, which take measurements of the temperature of the ocean water column down to 2 km. These types of observations are invaluable to study climate change and the role of the ocean in mitigating it.

Observing, understanding and modelling the oceans is now my job at UNSW Sydney, focusing on the East Australian Current and its impact on shelf dynamics. Every oceanographic study involves a deep understanding of the physics driving the ocean circulation and variability, and Mathematical tools are behind each scientific discovery – this is why I am part of “Mathematics for Planet Earth”.

Dr. Amandine Schaeffer, Lecturer
School of Mathematics and Statistics, UNSW Sydney

Links:

Personal webpage
UNSW Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab
UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics

 

Jan Zika

Featured by Shane, posted in Contributors, Featured Contributors

The planet is getting warmer. The ocean plays a massive role. It is partly our friend because it is a huge heat bank and can slow down the rate of warming. But it can also fight back by lifting sea levels and making cyclones more powerful. It also suffers through damage to the biosphere. We probably know less about how the ocean works than we do about outer space, yet if we knew just a bit more it would really help us manage in the future.

Since Newton we’ve had a pretty good idea of how physical systems work – at least those that aren’t super tiny, close to absolute zero or travelling close to the speed of light. The ocean and atmosphere thankfully fall into that category. This means we can write down equations describing the climate and the challenge is solving them. Sometimes this involves a few scribbles on the back of an envelope, a few pages of careful sums or getting a super computer to process a few trillion calculations. In the end without maths we can neither understand how the climate works nor make accurate predictions about what might happen.

Links:

Personal website
UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics
ARC Centre of Excellence in Climate Extremes

Follow me on Twitter: @JanDZika