Defining relationships between ocean tracers and the Florida Current transport
Mentors:
Dr. Marlos Goes and Dr. Denis Volkov
Dr. Marlos Goes is an Associate Scientist at the University of Miami’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies and the Physical Oceanography department at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML). Dr. Goes received his Masters and PhD from the Oceanographic Institute of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and worked as a postdoctoral associate at the Pennsylvania State University. His primary interest is understanding and predicting the large-scale oceanic variability, and assessing its impacts on Earth’s climate.
Dr. Denis Volkov is a physical oceanographer at the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies of the University of Miami and at the Physical Oceanography Division of NOAA-AOML. His research interests include different aspects of ocean dynamics, with a particular emphasis on regional sea level and ocean circulation changes. While Dr. Volkov’s research has always relied on using spaceborne observations, in particular satellite altimetry, the desire to also be a seagoing oceanographer brought him to NOAA-AOML and resulted in sailing across four oceans.
Format:
Hybrid/remote
Brief description:
The student will work in the Physical Oceanography division at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. In this project, we are going to use measured profiles of oxygen to infer the transport of the Florida Current measured by cable and by hydrographic (temperature and salinity) data. We will infer density from the oxygen content, and calculate the differences between east and west, and regress the difference onto the Florida Current transport. After having these relationships, the best measurement locations (depth, longitude) will be determined, and the FC reconstruction uncertainties will be assessed. Depending on the timing, we will explore the use of the calibrated isotopic data (https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.831675; https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=noaa-ocean-8708) to update estimates of the Florida Current transport reconstruction in the past.
The student needs basic programming skills, and basic oceanographic concepts. The student will learn to perform calculations in matlab, use of oceanographic data, and geostrophic currents estimation.
