Physical Oceanography

An UNSW@ADFA ocean reference station has been successfully constructed and deployed at a site in 70 m water depth off Jervis Bay. The mooring monitors temperature using a thermistor string and current velocities using S4 current meters. Pictured are Colin and John collecting thermistor chain data from the mooring. All observations will be incorporated into Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS). External funding has been received from IMOS to upgrade and service this morning for next three years.

Current Research Projects

Coastal environment management

Comparative study of marine protected areas in Australian and China (Dr Hua Wang)

The project aims to compare the legislative frameworks, management characteristics and impact of the ecosystems of the marine protected areas in Australia and in China . It is widely known that China has a growing interest in developing marine protected areas and management plans in its coastal zones whilst Australia has a well developed integrated coastal management system. This study will be a comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of coastal environmental management systems in two countries. It is hoped that the present work can assist and enhance management of the marine protected areas both in Australia and in China .

Managing Australian Defence Force activities in marine protected areas - The environmental management of Jervis Bay and Shoalwater Bay Training Areas
(Dr Hua Wang)

This project aims to study coastal management issues of Australia Defence Force (ADF) activities in Australian Marine Protected Areas, by analysing the Environmental Management Systems of Jervis Bay and Shoalwater Bay training areas. The research has important significance to the sustainable development of ADF training activities, ecology, environment, economy and society. At the completion of this project, we hope to provide experiences and lessons learnt from managing these two training areas in an environmentally sustainable manner; and to assist management of ADF training activities in other regions.

Ocean modelling

Ensemble methods in ocean modeling (Dr Andrew Kiss & Robert Woodham)

The BlueLink ocean forecasting system has recently become operational, providing three-dimensional forecasts of ocean currents and temperature analogous to those produced by numerical weather forecasting. Robert's PhD project is an investigation of the growth of forecast errors in SHOC, a component of the BlueLink system. Model sensitivity is being characterized by constructing ensembles of runs whose initial conditions are perturbed by simulated errors consistent with observational uncertainties, and using the divergent evolution of these runs to better understand the processes which limit the accuracy of long-term ocean forecasts.

IMOS(Integrated Marine Observing System) NSW node – Jervis Bay mooring
(Dr Hua Wang)

UNSW@ADFA researchers have investigated the oceanography of Jervis Bay and its adjacent shelf since 1988 spurred by the interest of Defence. In this proposal, we aim to construct and deploy a pair of moorings at a site off Jervis Bay to extend this data set. The primary purposes of the moorings are to provide real-time observational capability and obtain longer records to be used for on-going oceanographic and climate studies at UNSW@ADFA. All observations will be incorporated into IMOS (Integrated Marine Observing System) and BlueNet. Our mooring complements NSW-IMOS' planned observational infrastructure.

Internal tides in the Antarctic (Dr Robin Robertson)

Antarctic ice shelf decay and sea ice melt are increasing, causing rising sea level and warming oceans. Tides, particularly internal tides, play a key role in ice shelf stability and sea ice dynamics in the Antarctic. As deep waters warm, which observations show has been happening since the 1970s, tides will move and mix the “warm” water increasing melting. This project aims to evaluate the impacts of the tides on the sea ice, ice shelves, and deep water production, including changes in these quantities with warmer deep water. It will provide estimates of heat fluxes into the ice shelves, sea ice, and atmosphere, and deep water formation for the entire circumpolar region improving global climate models and climate change prognostics.

Internal tides in the Wilkes land Region (Dr Robin Robertson)

Present tidal current estimates for the circumpolar Antarctic have constant velocities with depth. This contradicts the strong depth variation of the semidiurnal tidal velocities in regional tidal simulations. Tides play a significant role in vertical mixing, sea ice motion and deformation, transfer of heat between the ocean and atmosphere and deep water formation, affecting climate and the global thermohaline circulation. Generally, tidal processes have been ignored in coupled sea ice/ocean models and sea ice in tidal models. A sea ice/ocean model will be used in a series of regional tidal simulations to give depth-dependent velocity estimates and evaluate tidal effects in the Antarctic.

Internal tides in the Indonesian Sea (Dr Robin Robertson)

Sea surface temperatures in the Indonesian Seas and its outflow affect Australia 's climate, particularly precipitation. The Indonesian Seas are a chokepoint in the global conveyor belt. Tides affect surface and outflow temperatures and transport. Other important factors include seasonal winds and El Niño, the primary player in precipitation. Despite their key roles, existing model simulations ignore either wind or tides. This project addresses that shortcoming by simulating the circulation of the Indonesian Seas, including both winds and tides. This will enable accurate estimation of the dependence of outflow waters and transport on the monsoon seasons and El Niño/La Niña conditions and development of a tidal mixing parameterization.

Nonlinear dynamics of ocean currents (Dr Andrew Kiss)

Western boundary currents (WBCs) are major currents which flow polewards along the western sides of each subtropical ocean (e.g. the Gulf Stream and the East Australian Current). Their poleward transport of warm tropical water is an important component of the global climate balance.

Computational ocean models typically produce WBCs which separate from the coast much further downstream than in reality, producing large errors in ocean/atmosphere heat fluxes. Attempts to rectify this problem have been hampered by a lack of theoretical understanding of the dynamics responsible for separation. In the last few years, very high-resolution ocean models have been developed which can accurately reproduce WBC separation, but it remained unclear why such high resolution was required. My recent work (Kiss, 2002) has led to a much better theoretical understanding of this process and suggests how ocean models can be improved. This theory is based on an idealised conceptual model, but nevertheless seems to offer a convincing explanation for the high resolution required for successful WBC modelling.

Oceanic nepheloid layers and their role in coastal oceanography (Dr Hua Wang)

Nepheloid layers in the oceans, formed through sediment resuspension events by waves and currents on the continental shelf, ‘shut down' the bottom boundary layer processes and reduce mixing and hence transport of sediments and other materials. This project will develop and implement new numerical models to investigate the dynamic features of such layers including their highly non-linear behaviours of resuspension hysteresis. The impact of such layers in determining coastal ocean and ecosystem dynamics and in transporting sediments from the rivers into the outer shelves of the marginal seas will be investigated.

This project covers the coastal oceans such as Jervis Bay, NSW, the Adriatic Sea, Italy, the southwestern coast of Korea and East China and Yellow Seas. The outcome of the project will result in new knowledge on the roles that resuspended sediments played in flow dynamics and the primary biomass production in the turbid coastal ecosystem environments.

Facilities

• The school supports field based oceanographic research with a range of instruments for in-situ measurements and access to small research vessels for inshore work.
• Access to the Australian National University Supercomputer Facility.

Members of the Physical Oceanography Research Group

Academic Staff

Dr Andrew Kiss (a.kiss@adfa.edu.au) BSc (Hons), PhD ANU
Dr Robin Robertson (r.robertson@adfa.edu.au) PhD Oregon State University.
Adjunct Assoc. Research Scientist: Lamont-Doherty Earth Obs. Columbia Univ. & Adjunct Scientist: UNSW Climate Change Research Centre.
Dr Hua Wang (h.wang@adfa.edu.au) BSc Shandong, PhD James Cook

Research Students

Vihang Bhatt - Research Topic - The effect of fluid mud layer on the ocean dynamics in coastal seas.

Donghui Jiang (starting Session 1 2008)

Lulu Qiao - Research Topic - Circulation and sediment transport in the Bohai and Yellow Sea due to winter storms.

Dehai Song (starting Session 2 2008)

Robert Woodham - Research Topic - Ensemble methods in oceanic modelling.

Wen Wu (starting Session 2 2008)

Aaron Young - Research Topic - Investigations into the effect of tidally-induced changes in hydrography on acoustic propagation.

Fan Zhang (starting Session 2 2008)

Recent Graduate Students

Dr Do-Seong Byun - Research Topic - Tidal and sediment transport dynamics in the turbid waters of south-west Korea : A modelling approach to examining these processes and their effects on phytoplankton production

Recent Honours Students

Fiona Simmonds – Research Topic - The sink method: Identifying oceanic thermal fronts?

Research Collaborators

Coastal oceanography and environment management

Prof. X. Bao (Ocean University of China, Qingdao)
Dr D-S. Byun (National Oceanographic Research Institute, Korea)
Dr L. Oey (Princeton University, USA )
Prof. N. Pinardi (Bologna University, Italy)
Prof. D. Wu (Ocean University of China, Qingdao)
Prof. L. Zhao (Ocean University of China, Qingdao)

Internal tides

Dr A. Ffield (Earth and Space Research, Grandview, NY)
Prof. A. Gordon (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University , Palisades, NY)
Dr H. Hellmer (Alfred Wegener Institute fuer Polar und Meeresforshcung, Bremerhaven, Germany)
Dr S. Jacobs (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY)
Dr F. Nitsche (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY)
Dr M. Studinger (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY)
Prof. B. Tremblay ( McGill University, Montreal, Canada)
Dr A. Worby ( Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania)
Dr X. Yuan (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY)

Ocean modelling

Dr M. Baird (UNSW)
Dr D. Griffin (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, CMAR)
Dr A. Hogg (ANU)
Dr A. Maharaj (Macquarie University)
Prof. D. Marshall (Oxford)
Prof. J. Middleton (SIMS-UNSW)
Dr P. Oke (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, CMAR)
Dr M. Roughan (SIMS-UNSW)
Assoc. Prof. I. Suthers (SIMS-UNSW)
Dr S. Williams (USIMS-U.Syd).

Oceanography students with Dr Hua Wang outside PEMS South building.
[ Photo Credit: K. Badek ]

From left to right: Qun Liang, Vihang Bhatt, Dr Xiao Hua Wang, Donghui Jiang.