Featured Projects
Physical Oceanography Data
Data from buoys, satellites, and instruments on the sea floor can be accessed on our Data page or by clicking the links below.
Science Seminars
The Physical Oceanography Division at AOML hosts seminars to share its latest work and strengthen collaborations for an Earth Systems approach to research. Watch seminars from previous years on Youtube.
Upcoming Seminars
There are no upcoming seminars at this time.
Project Highlight
Saildrone 1054 equipped with a new compact wing designed for extreme high-wind events. Image credit: Saildrone
Observations for Weather & Climate
Saildrone
Five uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), known as saildrones, are being deployed from the US Virgin Islands and Florida in July to gather key data throughout the 2021 Tropical Atlantic hurricane season. The mission is in support of hurricane monitoring and prediction and is a joint project between AOML, CIMAS, PMEL, CICOES, and Saildrone, Inc. These saildrones are equipped with specially designed “hurricane wings” to enable them to operate in extreme conditions. The mission aims to improve understanding and predictability of tropical cyclone intensity changes and advance knowledge of the ocean-atmosphere interactions that fuel them.
To learn more visit the AOML/ PMEL Saildrone webpage.
Recent News
May 19, 2022
Tropical cyclones intensify by extracting heat energy from the ocean surface, making the sea surface temperature under storms crucial for storm development. A recent study by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory found that large amounts of rain under tropical cyclones can reduce the sea surface cooling induced by them.
Featured Publication
Lopez, H., Lee, S. K., Kim, D., Wittenberg, A., & Yeh, S. W. (2021). Projected Increase in Fast-Growing and Slow-Dissipating El Niño Events in the 21st Century.
Abstract: Future changes in the seasonal evolution of El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) during the onset and decay phases have received little attention by the research community. This work investigates the projected changes in the spatio-temporal evolution of El Niño events in the 21st Century (21C) using a large ensemble simulation of a couple general circulation model under anthropogenic forcing. Here we show that El Niño is projected to (1) initiate sooner in boreal spring, (2) to grow at a faster rate, (3) to persist longer over the eastern and far eastern Pacific, and (4) to have a broader impact on remote teleconnections. Significant changes in the tropical Pacific mean state, dominant feedback processes, and a projected increase in stochastic westerly wind burst forcing largely explain the fast growing and slow dissipating El Niño in the late 21C. Important implications of these findings are that the global climate impacts are projected to become more significant and persistent, owing to the extended persistence of El Niño.
Projections of faster onset and slower decay of El Niño in the 21st century
Lopez, H., Lee, S. K., Kim, D., Wittenberg, A., & Yeh, S. W. (2021). Projected Increase in Fast-Growing and Slow-Dissipating El Niño Events in the 21st Century.
Abstract: Future changes in the seasonal evolution of El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) during the onset and decay phases have received little attention by the research community. This work investigates the projected changes in the spatio-temporal evolution of El Niño events in the 21st Century (21C) using a large ensemble simulation of a couple general circulation model under anthropogenic forcing. Here we show that El Niño is projected to (1) initiate sooner in boreal spring, (2) to grow at a faster rate, (3) to persist longer over the eastern and far eastern Pacific, and (4) to have a broader impact on remote teleconnections. Significant changes in the tropical Pacific mean state, dominant feedback processes, and a projected increase in stochastic westerly wind burst forcing largely explain the fast growing and slow dissipating El Niño in the late 21C. Important implications of these findings are that the global climate impacts are projected to become more significant and persistent, owing to the extended persistence of El Niño.
Looking for scientific literature? Visit our Publication Database.
Technology Frontiers: Underwater Gliders
Driving Innovative Science
Project Report
This project report provides highlights of ongoing research projects that are either led by or involve AOML scientists together with essential science support personnel from NOAA, the University of Miami/Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), and our international partners.
Contact
| Rick Lumpkin, Ph.D.
Director, Physical Oceanography Division
| Sundararaman Gopalakrishnan, Ph. D.
Acting Deputy Director, Physical Oceanography Division
