João Marcos Azevedo Correia de SouzaMetOcean Solutions · MRD
João Marcos Azevedo Correia de Souza
Dr. in Ocean Engineering
About
29
Publications
6,394
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394
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Physical oceanographer with a wide range of interests, using of both numerical models and observations to understand the main processes driving the ocean dynamics and improving its predictability. The combination of both information sources provides the mean to achieve a more complete representation of the ocean estate to fuel detailed investigation.
I am currently working at Metocean Solutions in New Zealand developing a data assimilation system for operational forecast use and the generation of a reanalysis for investigation of the ocean variability.
Additional affiliations
May 2018 - present
January 2015 - May 2018
April 2012 - December 2014
Education
April 2004 - October 2008
Publications
Publications (29)
The dynamical interaction between currents, bathymetry, waves, and estuarine outflow has significant impacts on the surf zone. We investigate the impacts of two strategies to include the effect of surface gravity waves on an ocean circulation model of the south shore of O’ahu, Hawaii. This area provides an ideal laboratory for the development of ne...
The ocean surface vorticity budget around the Hawaiian Islands is examined using an 18-month model reanalysis generated using four-dimensional variational state estimation with all available observations (satellite, in situ, and high-frequency radio). To better resolve the ocean surface currents and reduce the representation error of the radio-meas...
The surface signature of Agulhas rings propagat-
ing across the South Atlantic Ocean is observed based on
three independent data sets: Advanced Microwave Scanning
Radiometer for the Earth Observing System/Tropical Rain-
fall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI)
(TMI/AMSR-E) satellite sea surface temperature, Argo pro-
filing floats and a...
Two different methodologies are applied in order to quantify the eddy contribution to the heat flux across the Polar Front, between January 2006 and December 2009. First, the eddy fluxes are indirectly estimated through a heat balance based on geostrophic fluxes obtained from the Argo climatological temperature and salinity. Second, a parametric mo...
New Zealand is located in the southwest Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by a complex system of boundary currents that vary on a variety of time scales, with important impacts on weather, primary productivity, and fisheries. While various observational and modeling studies have shed light on many of the characteristics of New Zealand's ocean circula...
Here we present the first open-access long-term 3D hydrodynamic ocean hindcast for the New Zealand ocean estate. The 28-year 5 km×5 km resolution free-running ocean model configuration was developed under the umbrella of the Moana Project, using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) version 3.9. It includes an improved bathymetry, spectral tida...
In this study, a high-resolution one-way nested, hindcast ROMS model was developed to analyse the coastal circulation and Lagrangian statistics within the Bay of Plenty (BoP) region in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The Bay of Plenty Model (BoPM) was statistically evaluated against a set of multiple remote sensing and in situ observations from 2003-2004, f...
Marine heatwaves can have devastating ecological and economic impacts and understanding what drives their onset is crucial to achieving improved prediction. A key knowledge gap exists around the subsurface structure and temporal evolution of MHW events in continental shelf regions, where impacts are most significant. Here, we use a realistic, high-...
The dispersion of subsurface Lagrangian floats by eddies was observed directly in DeSoto Canyon, located in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Key elements of dispersion include the capture and release of floats by variations in eddy structure and intensity. Two separate eddy events were revealed through 60-day trajectories from five subsurface drift...
Here we present the first open access long term 3D hydrodynamic ocean hindcast for the New Zealand ocean estate. The 28 years 5 km x 5 km resolution free running ocean model configuration was developed under the umbrella of the Moana Project, using the Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS) version 3.9. It includes an improved bathymetry, spectral tida...
Accurate forecasting of ocean currents in dynamic regions remains a critical challenge due to the sparsity of observations in global ocean observing networks and the limited resolution of present‐day regional ocean models. Lately, traditional observing platforms have been complemented by newly available data streams capable of sampling at higher sp...
The evaluation of the ocean energy balance is crucial for improving the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms sustaining ocean circulation. Based on the outputs of the ROMS ocean model, the energy cycle, eddy-mean flow interactions, and energy pathways of the deep Gulf of Mexico (GoM) have been investigated in this study. The theoretical fram...
Three simulations of the Gulf of Mexico circulation using different numerical general circulation models are compared to results of recent large-scale observational campaigns conducted throughout the deep (>1500 m) Gulf. Analyses of these observations have provided new understanding of large-scale mean circulation features and variability throughou...
Continental shelves are the most productive areas in the seas with the strongest implications for global nitrogen cycling. The Yucatán shelf (YS) is the largest shelf in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM); however, its nitrogen budget has not been quantified. This is largely due to the lack of significant spatio-temporal in situ measurements and the complexi...
A comparison between 4 (near) global ocean reanalysis products is presented for the waters around New Zealand. The objective is to provide information for an educated choice of ocean estate estimate. The simulations are compared to satellite and in situ observations, and vertical sections are extracted to evaluate the representation of the main reg...
Lagrangian studies are very useful in predicting deepwater environmental impacts such as oil and gas extraction operations. The purpose of this work was to improve our understanding of the connectivity of the deep Gulf of Mexico (GoM), by complementing the Lagrangian observational dataset provided by subsurface float observations with virtual parti...
Continental shelves are the most productive areas in the seas with strongest implications for global Total Nitrogen (TN) cycling. The Yucatan shelf is the largest shelf in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), however, its general TN budget has not been quantified. This is largely due to the lack of significant spatio-temporal in situ measurements and the comp...
New Zealand (NZ) is an island nation with stewardship of an ocean twenty times larger than its land area. While the challenges facing NZ’s ocean are similar to other maritime countries, no coherent national plan exists that meets the needs of scientists, stakeholders or kaitiakitanga (guardianship) of NZ’s ocean in a changing climate. The NZ marine...
The complex structure of the vertical velocity field inside an anticyclonic eddy located just south of the Canary Islands is analyzed through a high-resolution ocean model. Based on the flow divergence, vertical velocity is decomposed into various forcing components. The analysis reveals that advection and stretching of vorticity are the most impor...
The complex structure of the vertical velocity field inside an anticyclonic
eddy located just south of the Canary Islands is analyzed through a highresolution
ocean model. Based on the flow divergence, vertical velocity is
decomposed into various forcing components. The analysis reveals that advection
and stretching of vorticity are the most import...
The dynamical interaction between currents, bathymetry, waves, and estuarian outflow have significant impacts on the surf-zone. We investigate the impacts of two strategies to include the effect of surface gravity waves on an ocean circulation model of the south shore of O'ahu, Hawaii. This area provides an ideal laboratory for the development of n...
The surface signature of the Agulhas rings propagating across the South Atlantic Ocean is observed based on 3 independent datasets: TMI/AMSR-E satellite sea surface temperature, Argo profiling floats and a merged winds product derived from scatterometer observations and reanalysis results. A persistent pattern of cold (negative)
SST anomalies in th...
The standard REMO (a Brazilian approach towards operational oceanography) model configuration is tested, and results of two numerical simulations with HYCOM are presented and discussed. This configuration consists basically of a high-resolution eddy-resolving, 1/12 degree model for the Metarea V (latitudes from 7◦N to 35◦50’S, and longitudes betwee...
The intensive and disordered way as coastal regions are occupied have required demand for studies of gravity waves incidents in coastal regions. From this premise, this study used data from a wave measurer installed in the adjacent region to the Pecém harbor, in order to identify the incidence patterns of waves on the coast, from an analysis in sho...
A method that combines vertical profiles from the ARGO floats program and satellite Sea Surface Height (SSH) data is used to reconstruct the vertical structure of the Agulhas rings. All eddies shed by the Agulhas retroflection in the period between January 2005 and December 2008 were successfully reconstructed. The velocity structures obtained are...
Three methods for automatic detection of mesoscale coherent structures are applied to Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) fields in the South Atlantic. The first method is based on the wavelet packet decomposition of the SLA data, the second on the estimation of the Okubo-Weiss parameter and the third on a geometric criterion using the winding-angle approach....
The standard REMO (a Brazilian approach towards operational oceanography) model configuration is tested, and results of two numerical simulations with HYCOM are presented and discussed. This configuration consists basically of a high-resolution eddy-resolving, 1/12 degree model for the Metarea V (latitudes from 7°N to 35°50'S, and longitudes betwee...
The present Thesis aims at investigating the thermodynamic balance through the Polar Front, in the Southern Ocean. The research focused in the role of the meso-scale activity. In a climatic sense, this is an important issue due to the direct influence over bottom and deep water formation sites around Antarctica.
Part of the meso-scale variability w...
Numerous activities require predictions of global ocean wave conditions. It is of growing concern by government officials for decision-making regarding the prediction and mitigation of ocean disasters, as well as sea-going rescue activities. The coastal and marine industry is another community to which wind and wave information is extremely importa...
Questions
Questions (5)
I have been wondering what would be the best strategy to assimilate moored ADCP and current meter data. In my particular case, I have several moorings (approx. 30) scattered through a regional domain. M2 and K1 internal tides are important in a portion of the domain.
Usually, the uv data is lowpass filtered before assimilation (lets say 48h cut freq.). However, this eliminates any improvement the assimilation can have on the representation of high frequency processes. My experience with HF Radars showed that assimilating data with 2h resolution can reduce phase errors for both internal and barotropic tides.
I wonder if someone else have been assimilating high frequency currents in regional ocean models.
I am using ROMS with strong constraint 4DVar.
From 2010 forward SMOS has been providing worldwide Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) data. Despite de somehow common assimilation of SST and SSH, I haven't heard of efforts assimilating the SMOS SSS.
Can someone share any experiences / references on SSS data assimilation (not relaxation)?
I would be particularly interested on variational assimilation methods.
Kind regards
Joao
I am looking for recent (2010-2015) time series of river flow in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Although the USGS website provides data for major rivers in the northern part of the Gulf, the contributions of Mexican rivers are harder to find. Alternatively, adjusting a theoretical curve may solve the case... any reference on this approach would be appreciated.
It would also be a plus if the dataset is provided in netcdf format.
I will be using this data to run a 5km resolution numerical simulation of the GOM.
I am running ROMS with is4dvar data assimilation. Between the several datasets we assimilate, there are 3 HF radar antennas that provide radial velocities. The area covered by the radial velocities is just a very small portion of the model domain. These data are assimilated after filtering out the high frequency variability and adding the tides using TPXO. I am conducting a series of tests myself, and it would be very helpful to learn from your experience. In particular, I would like to hear about what impacts should be expected from assimilating HF radar radial velocities without filtering out the high frequency, using a variational assimilation method.
I am working with a regional model system with IS4DVAR data assimilation. At the present moment, we are assimilating along-track SLA from the Jason-1, Jason-2 and envisat satellites. But, since the model domain is not very large, I get one satellite track every 2-3 days. This leads to a very limited impact of the SLA assimilation on the resulting analysis. We are thinking of testing the assimilation of the AVISO gridded product instead of the along-track data.
Can you tell me what your experiences are and/or direct me to references comparing the 2 assimilations for a case where the along-track data presents such a scarce coverage?
