Research interests of faculty and staff in AMP fall into four broad categories: air-sea interaction and surface wave dynamics; underwater acoustics and geoacoustics; ocean optics and electromagnetic remote sensing; and coastal ocean dynamics. A brief description of each broad area can be found below. Also listed below is a brief summary of the research interests of each member of the faculty and scientific staff. Follow the links to each faculty/staff member for a more complete description of his/her interests.
Research in AMP is funded by a variety of external sources including the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Research funds exceed $5M annually.
Air-Sea Interaction and Surface Wave Dynamics
ASIS buoy with R/V Ron Brown
AMP's air-sea interaction group focuses on small scale interfacial processes which are critical to understanding large scale weather and climate dynamics. These small scale processes are generally not resovled in models of the ocean and atmosphere. With the increased prominence of coupled models, the importance of dealing with the physical processes involving boundary layer turbulence and wave dynamics is apparent. The extreme air-sea interactions that occur in hurricanes make RSMAS an especially interesting place to study air-sea interactions. Here collaborations with MPO and AOML lead to a more complete approach incorporating our view of the physical processes, NOAA's field programs and MPO's numerical modelling and field measurements.
We collaborate with colleagues in MAC on studying the transfer of gases across the interface. Our laboratory facility is extremely well set up for gas transfer research in both light and strong winds. Climate-critical gases such as H2O and CO2 are currently under investigation and DMS will shortly be added. We also collaborate with MAC on the generation of spray and aerosols.
The roughness of the interface is determined by wave properties so that waves play a role in all aspects of air-sea interaction. Capillary and capillary-gravity waves (5 mm to 15 cm) have an especially crucial role in gas transfer and remote sensing. The breaking ("micro-breaking") of the short waves is the principal cause of enhanced gas transfer across the interface. The modulation of the short waves by the much longer waves and currents provides the basis for many aspects of satellite remote sensing. The ASIST facility is ideal for studying these aspects and also the thermodynamics of boundary layers. Ongoing work with MPO, AOML, and NRL (DC) focuses directly on the "cool skin" of the ocean, while continuing investigations with APL/UW are aimed at soldifying many aspects of active and passive remote sensing. Aerosol generation by wave breaking and the effetcs of aerosols on the health of coastal dwellers is an emerging area of research that involves MAC, MBF, and the Medical School.
Other related links: Hurricane Research Division, National Hurricane Center, American Geophysical Union (AGU), American Meteorological Society (AMS), The Oceanography Society (TOS), WHOI Air-Sea Interaction Group, Oceanweather, Inc., Shoaling Waves Experiment (showex)
Underwater Acoustics and Geoacoustics
Underwater acoustics research in AMP is concerned with the generation, propagation and scattering of sound in the ocean and seafloor, and the development of acoustic remote sensing techniques. This work encompasses theory, numerical modeling, field work in both deep and shallow water, and data analysis. The Ocean Acoustics Group has over 20 years experience in instrument development, computer modelling, and conducting acoustic experiments at sea. The geoacoustics laboratory specializes in seafloor acoustics. Underwater sound has a special place in the context of ocean remote sensing. This is because the ocean is essentially opaque to electromagnetic radiation but is transparent to acoustic radiation. Thus, electromagnetic techniques are limited to sensing the sea surface and/or the near field of the sensor. In contrast, the entire ocean volume and seafloor are accessible to acoustic imaging systems.
parabolic equation field plot Underwater acoustic applications include: underwater communication; water column acoustic tomography; basin-scale acoustic thermometry; bottom identification and classification; seafloor tomography to remotely sense geoacoustic properties; fisheries acoustics; plankton biomass estimation; monitoring suspended sediment and bedload transport; probing of small-scale fluid processes including turbulence, wave breaking and salt fingering.
AMP's acoustics interests overlap with those of MBF on fisheries acoustics and high-frequency backscatter from plankton, and MGG on geoacoustics/seismics.
Other related links: South Florida Ocean Measurement Center (SFOMC), Acoustic Surface Reverberation Experiment (ASREX), Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC), American Geophysical Union (AGU), Acoustical Society of America (ASA), IEEE, The Oceanography Society (TOS), WHOI Ocean Acoustics Lab
Ocean Optics and Electromagnetic Remote Sensing
Hurricane Georges, 1998
AMP's remote sensing research interests include both understanding the physics of radiative transfer and the use of remote sensing systems to study ocean processes. Examples are the use of in-situ optical instruments to study turbulence, the use of the Ocean Surface Current Radar (OSCR) system to remotely measure surface currents and surface wave spectra, and the use of satellite-based instruments to measure surface winds, surface waves and surface roughness.
The CSTARS (Center for Southeastern Tropical Remote Sensing) facility will soon provide real time access to a variety of visible, infrared and SAR (synthetic aperture radar) data in the Equatorial Atlantic/Caribbean Basin region. Both basic and applied studies of land, ocean and atmosphere will be undertaken. Examples include monitoring groundwater level, topographic mapping, monitoring target movement, assessing storm and flood damage, assessing soil properties and health of vegetation, and geodynamics.
AMP faculty and staff collaborate with colleagues in MGG and MPO on CSTARS activities, with MPO's remote sensing group, and with the optics group in UM's Physics Department.
Other related links: American Geophysical Union (AGU), IEEE, Optical Society of America (OSA), International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), The Oceanography Society (TOS)
Coastal Ocean Dynamics
The coastal ocean is special for a variety of reasons. It is here that society, including a wide variety of special interests, interacts most strongly with the oceans. In addition, many coastal regions are environmentally sensitive and play a critical role in marine ecosystems dynamics. There is an inextricably close link between the physics of coastal and nearshore flows, the associated biology, and societal implications.
Abaco, Bahamas
Courtesy giganticcomputer.comAMP's principal interests in the coastal ocean are understanding the physics of coastal and nearshore circulation, and the associated transport processes, including sediment transport. Even without linking the circulation physics to the biology and societal concerns, understanding the former offers many challenges. These include: strong coupling between flows on and off the continental shelf; forcing by tides, the atmosphere, and terrestial unput; and strong influences of often complicated bottom topography and coastline geometry. In addition, in the nearshore there are strong interactions between the interior flow physics and the physics of the surface and bottom boundary layers.
AMP's coastal processes interests complement those of MPO in the areas of continental shelf dynamics, bottom boundary layer dynamics, coastal marine meteorology, radar remote sensing of coastal flows and numerical modelling of coastal flows. AMP's coastal physics interests also complement those of MBF (influences of circulation phyics and water quality on ecosystems, corals and fisheries), MGG (groundwater and surface water hydrology, coastal erosion and coastal morphology), and MAF (assosicated legal, economic, and societal issues).
Other related links: American Geophysical Union (AGU), American Meteorological Society (AMS), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), The Oceanography Society (TOS), Shoaling Waves Experiment (showex)
Darek J. Bogucki, Assistant Professor
ocean optics and optical remote sensing of small scale fluid processes
John W. Brown, Research Professor
(Primary appointment at Medical School)
marine organic chemistry, toxicology, physics and chemistry of the air-sea interface
Michael G. Brown, Professor and Department Chair
(Secondary appointment in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography)
ocean acoustics, surface gravity wave dynamics, Lagrangian ocean dynamics
Bertrand Chapron, Associate Professor
remote sensing, surface waves, electromagnetic waves
Harry A. DeFerrari, Professor
underwater acoustics, signal processing
Mark A. Donelan, Professor
(Secondary appointments in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, and Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry)
air-sea interaction, wave dynamics, boundary layer turbulence,wave modelling, remote sensing, gas transfer, storm surge modelling, wind stress modelling
William M. Drennan, Research Associate Professor
air-sea interaction, turbulence, boundary layers, surface gravity waves
Tanos Elfouhaily, Associate Professor
remote sensing, surface waves, electromagnetic waves, polarimetry
Hans C. Graber, Professor
(Secondary appointment in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography)
surface wave dynamics, microwave remote sensing of ocean processes, air-sea interaction and boundary-layer dynamics
Thomas Hahn, Assistant Professor
bubble acoustics, fish acoustics, hydrodynamics, and acoustics of multi-phase flows
Brian Haus, Research Associate Professor
experimental studies of coastal ocean surface currents; radar remote sensing of oceanographic processes; shelf and estuary dynamics; wave-current interactions; sediment transport; laboratory studies of air-sea interactions and turbulence in the ASIST facility
Susanne Lehner, Associate Professor
remote sensing, air-sea interaction, extreme waves, high wind speed boundary layers, interferometry
Peter Minnett, Professor
(Primary appointment in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography)
satellite remote sensing, air-sea interaction, Arctic oceanography
Christopher N. K. Mooers, Professor
(Secondary appointments in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, and Marine Affairs and Policy)
coastal ocean circulation dynamics, circulation of marginal and semi-enclosed seas, mesoscale oceanography, coastal ocean prediction, evaluation of models and ocean observing networks, numerical simulation
Hien Ba Nguyen, Research Associate Professor
solid-state electronics, instrumentation, microcomputer systems, signal processing, underwater acoustics
Jacobus van de Kreeke, Professor Emeritus
coastal engineering, estuarine and nearshore hydrodynamics
Ken Voss, Professor
(Primary appointment in Physics)
in-situ ocean optics
John D. Wang, Professor
coastal engineering, tidal hydraulics, hydrodynamics, mass transport
Jorge Willemsen, Professor
deterministic modeling of ocean surface gravity waves, including wind driving and dissipation; physical mechanisms for the transport of nutrients to plankton, including the interactions between zooplankton and phytoplankton.
Tokuo Yamamoto, Professor
geoacoustics, marine soil mechanics, wave/soil/structure interactions
AMP scientific staff interestsLinks to adjunct faculty can be found here.
Inkweon Bang, Research Scientist
numerical modelling of regional flows
Francisco Javier Beron-Vera, Postdoctoral Scholar
geophysical fluid dynamics, dynamics of Hamiltonian systems
Maria Josefina Olascoaga, Postdoctoral Scholar
geophysical fluid dynamics, modelling of biophysical interactions
Neil J. Williams, Associate Scientist
remote sensing, modelling of hurricane wind and wave fields, underwater acoustics, instrument and mooring design, signal processing
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