The Oceans and Ice Group focuses on studies of the ocean (both global and regional aspects), its interaction with sea ice and ice shelves, and its relation to climate variability and changes. Major ongoing research topics include:

• analysis of ocean and ice variability using multi-sensor satellite observations (e.g., scatterometers, altimeters, radiometers, gravimeters, synthetic aperture radars);
• global ocean and sea ice modeling and data assimilation.
• coastal ocean data assimilation and short-term forecast focusing on the US west coast.

Members of this group actively participate in the activities of NASA-related science teams such as the International Ocean Vector Wind Science Team (IOVWST), the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Science Team, the GRACE Science Team, and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) Science Team. Several researchers in this group are involved in ocean data assimilation and forecast projects such as the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO, http://www.ecco-group.org and http://ecco.jpl.nasa.gov/external), ECCO2 (http://ecco2.org), and OurOcean (http://ourocean.jpl.nasa.gov/). This group also provides scientific support to the NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC).

The scope of the research by this group encompasses remote sensing technology, data analysis, numerical modeling, data assimilation, and information management. In addition to individual research interests of the principal investigators, this group is committed to supporting ongoing NASA satellite missions and to the planning of future missions. The future direction of this group is to establish a team of interdisciplinary scientists with national and international reputations in studying interactions between the ocean and other components of the Earth System including the atmosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere.

People in this Group
Group Projects