My thesis

Thesis Subject:

Lagrangian particle dynamics in ocean submesoscale turbulence and future satellite data.

Thesis Supervisors:

 Thesis plan: 

In this thesis, inscribed in the CNES research project “DIEGO: Data and dynamical synergies for SWOT” (https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/system/documents/files/4184_SWOT-ST-DIEGO_summary.docx.pdf?list=projects), we will explore Lagrangian transport in models of surface ocean turbulence including ageostrophic dynamics by means of numerical simulations. In particular, we will focus on the role of the effective compressibility characterizing the 2D surface flows at scales of order 1 km, which is directly related to important vertical velocities. The research work will mainly rely on idealized simulations. Using the SWOT simulator software with the numerically computed flows, it will be possible to examine the effect of the data processing that will be applied to the real observations. Depending on the advancement of the project it could also be possible to use realistic high-resolution models, as well as the satellite data when available. The analysis will be based on the comparison of different statistical indicators of Lagrangian dispersion in the original and processed flows. The aim is to determine the effect of unresolved motions, and of the data processing procedure, on dispersion features. In particular, this study should allow the identification of a threshold length scale above which the approximate velocity field is accurate enough, at least in a statistical sense, as well as an estimate of the kinetic energy of the missing small scales.