GISS Lunch Seminar

Speaker: Gianluca Meneghello (Ecole Normale Superieure)
Topic: The Dynamics of the Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is one of the fastest changing and least understood environments on the planet. It is also a crucial element of the global climate system. Yet, predicting the future of this high-latitude ocean presents challenges. Many of the processes regulating its evolution are still poorly understood, and the Arctic is one the largest sources of uncertainty in climate projections. In this talk I will discuss how we can leverage observations and reduced-order models to investigate the dynamical balance regulating the Arctic's large-scale circulation and mesoscale turbulence field. At the large scale, we will discuss how the feedback between sea-ice drift and surface currents plays a central role in modulating the momentum transfer between the atmosphere and the ocean. At the mesoscale, we will see how the interplay between sea-ice and stratification leads to the peculiar subsurface intensification of the Arctic's eddy kinetic energy. We will then review possible implications for modeling the future evolution of the Arctic Ocean.