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Science RoCS, Research on Commercial Ships

Time: Thu 2022-10-06 13.00 - 14.00

Location: E3

Language: English

Participating: Thomas Rossby

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Abstract

As with any science our knowledge of a topic is both defined and constrained by the tools we have. Physical oceanography, the science of the oceans in motion, is severely challenged by the vastness of the oceans, the high cost of access, and the challenges in developing instruments and techniques that will work and survive in the harsh environment. This talk will begin with a brief retrospective of our science until the late 1960s when new techniques for measuring water properties and currents started to become available. After a brief survey of these I will focus on our work on the container vessel MS Oleander and what we have learned ocean currents between New Jersey and Bermuda over the last 25 years. I will conclude with a survey of issues and challenges working onboard commercial ships. 

Brief bio:

Emeritus professor Tom Rossby grew up in Sweden and became a civilingenjör at KTH in 1962. He then moved to the US and got a PhD in Oceanography at MIT in 1966. After teaching at Yale University for several years he joined the faculty at the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island in 1975.