The goal is to understand the circulation and dynamics of the Denmark Strait, East Greenland Shelf, Irminger Sea. More generally, we want to understand the circulation in the sub-polar North Atlantic Ocean and Nordic Seas. Diagnosing and monitoring the flow in this area is critical to estimate the state and variability of the meridional overturning circulation in the North Atlantic ocean. Our approach is to use very high-resolution numerical models, state-of-the-art data assimilation, and collaborate with observational oceanographers and atmospheric scientists working this area.
We’re also interested in understanding high-latitude freshwater dynamics, particularly in the Arctic and exchanges with the Atlantic. See the recent review/synthesis papers on freshwater in the Arctic (Haine et al., 2015; Carmack et al., 2015; Haine, 2020; Weijer et al., 2022).
This project contributes to the international Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Flux (ASOF) study. I was the chair of the International Scientific Steering Group for this program for many years.
Some recent animations of our 2km simulations of overflow through Denmark Strait are:
- An animation of sea-surface height and the height of the 27.82 isopycnic surface in the Denmark Strait region (from High-frequency fluctuations in Denmark Strait transport),
- Isopycnic surfaces south of Denmark Strait (from On the nature and variability of the East Greenland Spill Jet: A case study in summer 2003),
- Particle dispersion from Denmark Strait (from Fates and travel times of Denmark Strait Overflow Water in the Irminger Basin).
We’re particularly interested in the role of sub-mesoscale atmospheric motions on subpolar ocean circulation, and collaborate with atmospheric scientists on this topic. See this clip for an impression of the Irminger Sea atmospheric boundary layer from the FAAM research aircraft at 100feet!
I’m also interested in the environmental knowledge of Norse colonists to Iceland, Greenland and North America in the middle ages.
I work on this topic with Mike Spall, Renske Glederloos, Mattia Almansi, Atousa Saberi, Wenrui Jiang, Ali Siddiqui, Anand Gnanadesikan, Marcello Magaldi, Inga Koszalka, and Bob Pickart.
