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Summary
The Ocean-Atmosphere interactions have a large influence on the climate and on the ecosystems at the basin scale. The main climatic modes of variability (e.g., El Niño, NAO, ...) are coupled modes between the Ocean and the Atmosphere. The ecosystems have a strong response to those variations through the influence of the wind, the light, and the temperature on the nutrient stock and, thus, on the primary production and the oxygen concentration. Systematic biases in sea surface temperature in global models have highlighted the limitations of studies based on the global models and have, thus, spurred the investigation of the Ocean-Atmosphere interactions based on the high-resolution modeling approach. In the past few years, it has been demonstrated that fine scale processes such as e.g., Ocean-Atmosphere interactions can strongly modulate the variability and the mean physical and biogeochemical state of the ocean. In this presentation, the focus will be on the influence of fine-scale oceanic and atmospheric processes, including air-sea interactions, on the ocean dynamics and the biogeochemical variability. Using a set of regional and global coupled ocean and atmosphere models over different regions of the World Ocean, I will illustrate to which extent fine-scale processes can control the exchange of energy between the Ocean and the Atmosphere, the ocean dynamics, and the net primary production and oxygen concentration.
Brief biography
My work is multi-disciplinary, with main contributions to physical oceanography, ocean-atmosphere interactions, with far-reaching impacts on ocean biogeochemistry and bio-physical interactions. The tools I have shown expertise span from numerical ocean models to satellite and in situ observations of the ocean and surface meteorology. Since my PhD I obtained in 2008, I developed my line of research from the following postulate: in order to understand the ocean and marine ecosystems evolution and thus the impact of climate change, it is key to develop an integrated approach based on the understanding of physical phenomena and their interactions with the ecosystem at relevant spatial and temporal scales. I applied my approach over different regions of the World ocean, including Eastern and Western Boundary Current Systems, the Mediterranean Sea, and also more recently a global approach. Among my significant accomplishments I would highlight two categories. The first category addresses the origin and consequences of the slackening of the wind (the wind "drop-off") in Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems. I demonstrated its importance in determining the mean and mesoscale oceanic circulation, and, overall, the net primary production. More importantly, as a second achievement, I would cite my recent work on the mechanical interaction between the ocean surface currents and the atmosphere, the so-called Current Feedback, which describes how surface ocean currents affect the surface winds and the ocean in profound ways, one of which is to attenuate small-scale ocean eddies and controlling Western Boundary Currents. My results have crucial implications on nutrient distributions and effects on coastal ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles.