Research

A summary of my current research interests. I have an observational oceanographic background, but have become increasingly interested in modelling, robotic platforms and data visualisation. I’m currently funded by the OSNAP project.

Bathymetric controls on the North Atlantic Current – OSNAP

The OSNAP array is an observing system between Scotland and Labrador, Canada which provides continuous measurements of heat and freshwater transport in the North Atlantic Subpolar gyre. These observations allow scientists to track the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) which exerts a major influence on Northern European and Arctic climate. UK-OSNAP maintains…

OSNAP (Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program)

OSNAP is an international program designed to provide a continuous record of the full-water column, trans-basin fluxes of heat, mass and freshwater in the subpolar North Atlantic. The OSNAP observing system consists of two legs: one extending from southern Labrador to the southwestern tip of Greenland across the mouth of the Labrador Sea (OSNAP West),…

Processes mediating ocean-to-coastline transmission

This work is a continuation of my PhD research and combines observations from the Tiree Passage Mooring and a FASTNEt drifter release study. This constitutes a case-study for my wider interest in ocean-shelf interaction between the Atlantic and the Arctic. The drifters were released at the continental shelf edge west of Scotland in summer 2013…

Wintertime Fjord-Shelf Interaction and Ice Sheet Melting in Southeast Greenland

Work completed as part of a publication (Fraser, N., Inall, M.E., Magaldi,M.G., Haine, T.W.N., Jones, S.C. Wintertime Fjord-Shelf Interaction and Ice Sheet Melting in Southeast Greenland. Submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research – Oceans, August 2018.). A model-based study examining the increased melting of Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier and its relation with oceanic incursion into the fjord.…

High-resolution spatial analyses using glider data (and other high-res measurement campaigns)

This study was designed to complement the spatial analyses I conducted as part of the ODaT project (see details here) and later as part of MASSMO. Several new data products were computed from historical data, but it was recognised that the occupation of a region by a glider would increase the data density by several…

Temporal analyses of historical data

This work was undertaken as part of the ODaT (Ocean Data Tool) project in collaboration with Marine Scotland. There are millions of historical observations around the UK, but relatively few studies on how they can improve our understanding of local waters. High quality observations of physical properties have taken place for at least 60 years,…

Experimental spatial analyses using historical data

One of the aims of the ODaT project was to generate ‘value added’ data products from existing raw historical data. In collaboration with DSTL, I investigated methods for characterising stratification using both modelled and observational datasets. These products will be distributed on the SAMS geodata server and updated dynamically as new data becomes available. Several…

Novel methods for visualising oceanographic data

This work focuses on the use of Paraview to create an interactive 3D environment to explore oceanographic data. While Paraview is primarily designed for grids and meshes, I have developed scripts and workflows to import common ocean data types including structured and unstructured mesh modelled data, bathymetry, land topography, glider, profiling float, drifting float and…

ODaT – Development of an Ocean Data Tool

Below is a brief introduction to the rationale behind the ODaT project. For more information on the outcomes and findings, see my pages on temporal analyses, spatial data products and high resolution data products. The outputs of oceanographic campaigns have clear value for the advancement of marine science, but it is important that these benefits…

Tiree Passage Mooring

The Tiree Passage Mooring is serviced by staff at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, and represents an invaluable record of the coastal conditions in Scottish waters between 1981 and present. Throughout the years, moorings have regularly been damaged or lost due to winter storms, fouling on fishing trawls or instrument failure, so the mooring…

PhD synthesis

A short synthesis of my PhD

Research

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