Principal Investigator John Marshall
Co-investigators Glenn Flierl , Paola Rizzoli , Raffaele Ferrari
Project Website http://eaps-www.mit.edu/paoc/category/research-topics/ocean/physical-oceanograp…
Physical oceanography is the exploration and study of the physics and geography of the ocean currents and water properties. It has important applications in global climate, oceanic mixing, and coastal studies, as well as being a key element in interdisciplinary studies of primary production, hydrothermal vents, and oceanic flux and storage of carbon dioxide.
Areas of particular interest in PAOC include:
(*) the dynamics of ocean currents (on centimeter to global scale)(*) ocean current variability (on the timescale of seconds to millennia)(*) the distribution of heat and salt and their transport through the ocean system(*) atmosphere-ocean exchange of momentum, heat and freshwater(*) many kinds of wave phenomena(*) interactions between oceans and rivers, estuaries, ice and marginal seas
PAOC's Physical oceanography researchers benefit from links with WHOI.