South Pacific subtropical gyre variability and its role in sea level rise

Dr. Tangdong Qu
Researcher, Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science & Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA

Dr. Qu received his Ph.D. (1993) and M.S. (1987) in Physical Oceanography from the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his B.S. (1982) in Mathematics and Mechanics from Peking University. He joined JIFRESSE as a Researcher in January 2016 after having served as an Associate/Senior Researcher at University of Hawaii for 18.5 years. Dr. Qu’s research expertise lies in the field of physical oceanography with applications to climate research and environmental science. He is particularly interested in the diagnostic analyses of ocean climate processes. Dr. Qu has conducted extensive research and played an important role in the understanding of the low-latitude western boundary current and its interaction with marginal sea circulation in the western Pacific.  His work of the South China Sea throughflow has opened a new area of research on the ocean’s role in the global climate system. His research efforts have also contributed in developing useful knowledge towards the understanding of climate variability in the Asia-Pacific sector.

Abstract

The South Pacific subtropical gyre provides a major pathway for water in the subtropics to be transported to the equator and high latitudes, which is believed to play a role in modulating the world’s climate system. Despite this importance, the basin-scale variability of the South Pacific subtropical gyre is much less documented compared with its North Pacific counterpart. Combining the two-decade long altimetry data with recent Argo observations, this talk presents a detailed description of the South Pacific subtropical gyre variability and its associated sea level rise. In particular, the in-situ measurements of the upper ocean (0-2000 m) allow identifying the relative contributions from different layers and different water properties. Atmospheric forcing of this variability is also discussed. 

• Questions:  Please contact Dr. Hui Su, Hui.Su@jpl.nasa.gov 
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