Wave Breaking

Turbulence

Sea Ice

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About the Lab

Our lab seeks to improve understanding of environmental fluid mechanics through using novel data and measurement techniques in the field. We are a part of the Physics of Oceans and Atmospheres (POA) discipline group in the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS) at the Oregon State University. Topics of interest include air/sea interactions, turbulence, waves, boundary layers, near-shore processes, and sea ice.

People

Principal Investigators

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Seth Zippel (he/him)

Assistant Professor

Air-sea interactions, Waves, wave breaking, wave/current interaction, wave/ice interaction, Turbulence and boundary layers

Lab Members

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Emily E. Hayden (Hayden)

PhD Candidate

Air-sea interactions, Climate variability and change, High-latitude processes

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Eric Rojas

PhD Student

High-latitude processes, Salinity processes

Alumni

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Oaklin Keefe

Master’s Student

Air-sea interactions, Marine boundary layer, Coastal/marine weather forecasting

Recent Publications

Direct Observation of Wave-Coherent Pressure Work in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Vertical Energy Fluxes Driven by the Interaction Between Wave Groups and Langmuir Turbulence

Parsing the Kinetic Energy Budget of the Ocean Surface Mixed Layer

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Recent Posts

WFIP3 ASIT Mast Deployment

Earlier this month we deployed a suite of sensors on WHOI’s ASIT (Air/Sea Interaction Tower) as part of a DOE-funded project to improve offshore wind forecasts. The focus of this deployment was to install sensors to measure and characterize the marine boundary layer.
Nov 22, 2023 2 min read
WFIP3 ASIT Mast Deployment

SASSIE Data Available

Data and code for SASSIE is available! Check out what is available here
Oct 24, 2023 1 min read
SASSIE Data Available

Sofar Buoys at ASIT

I’m working with folks at Sofar Ocean to test a new iteration of Spotter buoys. An ongoing problem in air/sea interactions is global estimates of air/sea turbulent heat fluxes. These can be estimated using “bulk” algorithms with measurements of winds, sea surface temperature, air temperature, relative hummidity, atmospheric pressure, and rain.
Oct 7, 2023 2 min read
Sofar Buoys at ASIT

Moved to OSU!

I’ve moved to Oregon State! While I will miss Woods Hole, I am so excited to join the wonderfull folks at CEOAS, and can’t wait to start this new chapter of my career.
Mar 1, 2023 1 min read

BBASIT Spring Updates

After a long year of planning and logistical hurdles, including a change of location from North Carolina to Buzzards Bay, we successfully deployed our air-sea interaction tower this April. The tower, dubbed BBASIT (Buzzards Bay Air-Sea Interaction Tower), is a 70 ft tall open-frame tower in 40 ft of water that serves as a stable platform for a host of meteorological and oceanic instrumentation as part of an NSF-funded project to study turbulence near the air/water interface.
Apr 15, 2022 1 min read
BBASIT Spring Updates
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Projects

WFIP3

The 3rd Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP3), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, seeks to improve our understanding of the physics of the atmosphere and ocean that dictate the structure and variability of the wind resource within the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL).
WFIP3

Sofar Collaboration

I’m working with folks at Sofar Ocean to test a new iteration of Spotter buoys. An ongoing problem in air/sea interactions is global estimates of air/sea turbulent heat fluxes. These can be estimated using “bulk” algorithms with measurements of winds, sea surface temperature, air temperature, relative hummidity, atmospheric pressure, and rain.
Sofar Collaboration

Salinity And Stratification at the Sea Ice Edge (SASSIE)

Sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean has declined dramatically over the past decades. Autumn ice advance is slower and occurs later, while summer ice retreat is faster and occurs earlier. The result is a lengthening open-water period each year, leading to changes in air-sea heat and momentum fluxes, the freshwater cycle, surface albedo feedbacks, primary production, and regional and global climate as well as human and ecological health.

Air/Sea Fluxes Mediated by Pressure Work

I am funded by NSF to investigate the wave-modulated transfer of energy between the atmosphere and the ocean by making measurements of the mean, wave-driven and turbulent motions on both sides of the air-sea interface. Field work anticipated for Fall 2021, and 2022
Air/Sea Fluxes Mediated by Pressure Work

Smart Oceans 2020

Smart Oceans 2020 is a series of workshops funded through NSF’s Convergence Accelerator to blue sky the future of oceans and accelerate convergent research towards societal impact.
Smart Oceans 2020