Physical Oceanography
Fishermen, Scientists Collaborate to Collect Climate Data
To help understand the ongoing changes in their slice of the ocean, a group of commerical fishermen in southern New England are now part of a fleet gathering much-needed climate data for scientists through a partnership with the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
Read MoreStudy Offers Clues to Better Rainfall Predictions
WHOI scientists have found a potential path to better seasonal rainfall predictions. Their study shows a clear link between higher sea surface salinity levels in the North Atlantic Ocean and increased rainfall on land in the West African Sahel, the area between the Sahara Desert and the savannah in Sudan.
Read MoreThrough the Looking-Glass of the Sea Surface
Scientists are using new technology to make previously impossible measurements at the turbulent ocean surface—a crucial junction for energy exchange between the air above and the sea below.
Read MoreFiamma Straneo Selected for Prestigious Sverdrup Lecture
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has chosen Fiamma Straneo, a physical oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), to deliver the Sverdrup Lecture at this year’s meeting of the Ocean Sciences section held in New Orleans from February 21-26, 2016. The lecture is one of the highest awards the section bestows on its members.
Read MoreWarming Ocean Worsened Australia’s Fatal 2010/2011 Floods
A study by a team of U.S. and Australian researchers shows that long-term warming of the Indian and Pacific oceans played an important role in increasing the severity of the devastating floods that struck Australia in 2010/2011. The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Read MoreIce, Wind & Fury
Greenlanders are well away of piteraqs, the hazardous torrents of cold air that sweep down off the ice cap. But scientists are just beginning to unravel how and when piteraqs form.
Read MoreNew Study Projects That Melting of Antarctic Ice Shelves Will Intensify
New research published today projects a doubling of surface melting of Antarctic ice shelves by 2050 and by 2100 may surpass intensities associated with ice shelf collapse, if greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel consumption continues at the present rate.
Ice shelves are the floating extensions of the continent’s massive land-based ice sheets. While the melting or breakup of floating ice shelves does not directly raise sea level, ice shelves do have a “door stop” effect: They slow the flow of ice from glaciers and ice sheets into the ocean, where it melts and raises sea levels.
Read MoreSudden Draining of Glacial Lakes Explained
In 2008 scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Washington documented for the first time how the icy bottoms of lakes atop the Greenland Ice Sheet can crack open suddenly—draining the lakes completely within hours and sending torrents of water to the base of the ice sheet thousands of feet below. Now they have found a surprising mechanism that triggers the cracks.
Scientists had theorized that the sheer weight of the water in these supraglacial lakes applied pressure that eventually cracked the ice, but they could not explain why some lake bottoms cracked while others did not.
Read MoreHidden Currents in the Gulf of Mexico
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill five years ago gave new impetus to investigating unknown subsurface currents deep within the Gulf of Mexico.
Read MoreThe Waves Within the Waves
If the 30-foot wave we were looking for had tumbled across the ocean’s surface that July day, it might have been mistaken for a monstrous rogue wave. But that’s not…
Read MoreThe Jetyak
Oceanographers are always looking for cost-effective vehicles to help them explore risky regions. Scientists at WHOI have developed one: a robotic platform called the Jetyak.
Read MoreSea Science in the Space Age
South Asian monsoons bring huge amounts of fresh water into the Bay of Bengal. Summer Student Fellow Mara Freilich used huge data sets from satellites to how and where the salinity of the Bay changes as a result.
Read MoreA Summer of Science by the Sea, 2014 (Part I)
Every summer since 1959, undergraduates from around the world have come to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for a program to learn about ocean science and conduct research under the guidance of WHOI scientists.
Read MoreWHOI Scientists Receive $1 Million Grant from MacArthur Foundation
Rapid climate change and an increasing range of climate impacts are already being felt along our coasts, and new research suggests that U.S. Northeast coastal waters may be more vulnerable…
Read MoreA Mooring in Iceberg Alley
WHOI scientists knowingly put a mooring in a fjord filled with icebergs near the terminus of a Greeland glacier. But it was their only way to learn if changing ocean conditions might be affecting how fast the glacier flowed into the ocean.
Read MoreA Drop in the Ocean
How can you follow a wisp of water within the turbulent immensity of the ocean? Jim Ledwell figured out a way. He developed a method to inject a harmless chemical…
Read MoreUnderstanding the Ocean’s Role in Greenland Glacier Melt
The Greenland Ice Sheet is a 1.7 million-square-kilometer, 2-mile thick layer of ice that covers Greenland. Its fate is inextricably linked to our global climate system. In the last 40…
Read MoreJet Stream Gets Fish in Hot Water
WHOI scientists traced a heat wave in the North Atlantic, and the disruption of fisheries that it caused, to an unusual pattern in air circulation months earlier.
Read MoreDetours on the Oceanic Highway
WHOI graduate student Isabela Le Bras is exploring newly discovered complexities of the Deep Western Boundary Current, a major artery in the global ocean circulation system that transports cold water south from the North Atlantic.
Read MoreA Buoy’s Long Strange Trip
Since 2004, WHOI scientists have deployed ice-tether profilers (ITPs) in polar sea ice to monitor changing conditions in the Arctic. ITP 47 found its way to the coast of Ireland.
Read MoreMessage Bottled in an Email
Amid the dunes of a tiny island in the North Atlantic, a scientist found a sandblasted bottle with a note in it.
Read MoreWhat Causes the Atlantic to Bloom?
Every spring, waters in the North Atlantic Ocean explode into green and white patches as countless microscopic marine plants bloom.
Read MoreWHOI Scientists Garner Awards in 2013
As the year 2013 ends, we profile scientists who recently received awards and recognition for their work.
Read MoreWHOI Scientists Receive $11.6 Million to Measure Changes in Ocean Circulation
Ocean currents, in concert with the atmosphere, play a critical role in regulating Earth’s climate. Yet the complexities of how water is moved around the globe and how the strength…
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