Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Addressing the need for clear communication in Mediterranean oceanography, this study presents a revised and comprehensive catalogue of water mass acronyms. Although there is no universal set of standard rules for assigning acronyms to water masses, as these can vary among different research groups, regions, or scientific communities, scientists ge...

This short paper introduces the topical collection of rendiconti lincei. scienze fisiche e naturali, which includes contributions originating from those presented at the Conference on “The Mediterranean System: a hotspot for climate changes and adaptation”, 21-22 March 2023 at Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome. The physics of the Earth system,...

Oceanography, or Oceanology, is a very broad name covering all the traditional sciences (physics, chemistry, biology etc.) which can be studied in the ocean context. Hence the distinction must be made using the specific names of Physical, Chemical or Biological Oceanography. This particular review is devoted to the history of Physical Oceanography,...

The South China Sea (SCS) experienced a significant reduction in warming rate (− 0.01 °C decade⁻¹, p>0.10\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$p>0.10$$\end{do...

As individuals serving on the AGU Advances editorial board, we condemn racism, affirm that Black Lives Matter, and recognize that inequality is built into the systems that have allowed us to prosper. We aim to persistently foster discussion about racism, inequity, and the need to make our community more diverse and inclusive. This will help AGU Adv...

Key Point The editors thank the 2020 peer reviewers

The Maritime Continent (MC) plays a vitally important role in the Earth's climate system from both oceanic and atmospheric perspectives. While the critical role of ocean‐atmosphere coupled dynamics over the MC has long been recognized, development of two‐way coupled regional climate models for this region is still in its early stages. In this work,...

Members of the editorial board of AGU Advances express their appreciation to those who served as peer reviewers for the journal in its inaugural year.

Although there have been many previous studies that have interpreted the variability of Indonesian Throughflow transport, the processes that determine its vertical structure have rarely been investigated due to limited observations and model inefficiencies. In this study, a regionally coupled model is developed to address this issue. The model adop...

Using a high‐resolution (0.1° × 0.1°) regional ocean model, this study investigates the impact of strait transport variability on the South China Sea (SCS) circulation and Indonesian throughflow, with a focus on the Mindoro‐Sibutu pathway via the Sulu Sea, upon closing various straits within the Maritime Continent. Closing the Sibutu Strait reduces...

Decadal variability of the South China Sea (SCS) sea surface temperature (SST) during 1982–2014 is investigated using observations and ocean reanalysis datasets. The SCS SST shows an abrupt transition from a cold-to-warm regime in the late 1990s. Based on the long-term SST variability two epochs are defined, 1982–1996 and 2000–2014 as cold and warm...

Quoting the ancient Romans: Audentes Fortuna iuvat. Being in the right place at the right time is useless if you do not grasp your Fortuna and build upon it. In this article, I expound on the milestones of my multiform research career, which over more than 40 years brought me from Venice to California to MIT; from the Venice problem to highly nonli...

Based on a fully-coupled, high-resolution regional climate model, this study analyzed three-dimensional temperature and momentum changes in the South China Sea (SCS) from 1970 to 2000, during which period the climate shifts from a decadal La Niña-like condition (before 1976/77) to a decadal El Niño-like condition afterward. With a set of partially-...

Spatial distribution of the South China Sea (SCS) surface temperature shows strong cold anomalies over the Sunda Shelf during the boreal winter season. The band of low sea surface temperature (SST) region located south/southeast of Vietnam is called as the winter cold tongue (CT) in the SCS. Using observational and re-analysis datasets a comprehens...

Based on a high-resolution (0.1° × 0.1°) regional ocean model covering the entire northern Pacific, this study investigated the seasonal and interannual variability of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) and the South China Sea Throughflow (SCSTF) as well as their interactions in the Sulawesi Sea. The model efficiency in simulating the general circula...

The Malacca Strait is traditionally treated as a typical tidally-driven channel with the wind-driven and other components considered negligible. However, the strait is frequently affected by intense tropical weather events distorting the background monsoon winds. The variable winds can create large wind-stress curl at the surface level. To answer t...

The focus of this study is the local-scale air-sea feedback mechanisms over the shallow shelf water region (water depth < 200m) of the Maritime Continent (MC). MC was selected as a pilot study site for its extensive shallow water coverage, geographic complexity and importance in the global climate system. To identify the local-scale air-sea feedbac...

This paper is the outcome of a workshop held in Rome in November 2011 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the POEM (Physical Oceanography of the Eastern Mediterranean) program. In the workshop discussions, a number of unresolved issues were identified for the physical and biogeochemical properties of the Mediterranean Sea as a whole, i.e., c...

The linkage between physical and biological processes, particularly the effect of the circulation field on the distribution of phytoplankton, is studied by applying a two-dimensional model and an adjoint data assimilation approach to the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank region. The model results, comparing well with observation data, reveal seasonal and...

Based on 10 year climatological data and simulations from a regional atmosphere–ocean coupled model (FVCOM-RegCM3), this study examined the coupled seasonal and intraseasonal variability of atmospheric–oceanic variables [sea surface temperature (SST), winds, rainfall and heat fluxes] and important roles of coupling in the South China Sea. It is sho...

Surface, intermediate, and deep-water processes and their interaction in time and space drive the major ocean circulation of the Mediterranean Sea. All major forcing mechanisms, such as surface wind forcing, buoyancy fluxes, lateral mass exchange, and deep convection determining the global oceanic circulation are present in this body of water. Deep...

This introductory chapter of The Mediterranean Sea: Temporal Variability and Spatial Patterns, Geophysical Monograph 202 provides a general outline of the book. The book collects eight original research articles describing new results in the study of the Mediterranean Sea physical properties. It is meant to be an important and original contribution...

The linkage between physical and biological processes is studied by applying a one-dimensional physical-biological coupled model to the Sargasso Sea. The physical model is the Princeton Ocean Model and the biological model is a five-component system including phytoplankton, zooplankton, nitrate, ammonium, and detritus. The coupling between the phys...

Three scales of LOW variability were found to be amenable to forecasting as well as being suitable to provide information that would be of use to management response plans.u⊙ Short time scale: 7 day lead events linked to local wind variability and "HABs"⊙ Medium Time Scale: 2 month lead events linked to "ETSA" easterly equatorial winds⊙ Decadal Tim...

Climatological high resolution coupled climate model simulations for the maritime continent have been carried out using the regional climate model (RegCM) version 3 and the finite volume coastal ocean model (FVCOM) specifically designed to resolve regions characterized by complex geometry and bathymetry. The RegCM3 boundary forcing is provided by t...

Linear and nonlinear radiating instabilities of an eastern boundary current are studied using a barotropic quasigeostrophic model in an idealized meridional channel. The eastern boundary current is meridionally uniform and produces unstable modes in which long waves are most able to radiate. These long radiating modes are easily suppressed by frict...

The importance of the Mediterranean Sea for the world ocean has long been recognized. First, the Mediterranean sea has a profound impact on the Atlantic ocean circulation and, consequently, on the global thermohaline conveyor belt. Maps of the Mediterranean salty water tongue exiting from the Gibraltar strait at intermediate depths and spreading th...

Twin experiments were made to compare the reduced rank Kalman filter (RRKF), ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), and ensemble square-root Kalman filter (EnSKF) for coastal ocean problems in three idealized regimes: a flat bottom circular shelf driven by tidal forcing at the open boundary; an linear slope continental shelf with river discharge; and a rec...

1] A simple barotropic quasi-geostrophic model is used to demonstrate that instabilities radiated from an unstable eastern boundary current can generate zonal striations in the ocean interior with realistic wavelengths and amplitudes. Nonlinear transfer of energy from the more unstable trapped modes is important for radiating modes to overcome fric...

Among the semi-enclosed basins of the world ocean, the South China Sea (SCS) is unique in its configuration as it lies under the main southwest-northeast pathway of the seasonal monsoons. The northeast (NE) monsoon (November–February) and southwest (SW) monsoon (June–August) dominate the large-scale sea level dynamics of the SCS. Sunda Shelf at the...

To obtain a better understanding of environment-related physical oceanography in Singapore Strait Region, numerical experiments are implemented to study the circulation in SSR. The three important components, tidal, wind and eddy-driven circulations are identified. It is shown that the tidal circulation is dominant in the region. Even though the wi...

In June of 2009, a sea trial was carried out around Singapore to study and monitor physical, biological and chemical oceanographic parameters. Temperature, salinity and velocities were collected from multiple vehicles. The extensive data set collected in the Serangoon Harbour provides an opportunity to study barotropic and baroclinic circulation in...

Oceanographic features such as jets and vortices are often found downstream of obstacles and landforms such as islands or peninsulas. Such features have high spatial and temporal variability and are, hence, interesting but difficult to measure and quantify. This paper discusses an experiment to identify and resolve such oceanographic features in Se...

Non-tidal sea level anomalies (SLAs) can be produced by many different dynamical phenomena over many time scales, and they can induce serious damages in coastal regions especially during extreme events. In this work, we focus on the SLAs in the South China Sea (SCS) to understand whether and how they can be related to the large-scale, seasonal mons...

The general properties of the general circulation of the Mediterranean basin are first summarized and discussed, critically assessing the still unsolved questions related to it. Then, ongoing modeling efforts are presented that focus upon different aspects of the circulation, such as the wind-driven and/or the thermohaline components; the seasonal...

The new field of data assimilation is rapidly growing in physical oceanography, thanks to the forthcoming availability of synoptic datasets on the global scale, such as satellite altimetry. Different types of assimilation strategies and techniques are discussed connected with the different types of available datasets. Examples are presented of assi...

The wind-driven gyre circulation in the ocean interior varies across large temporal and spatial scales, while the current along the eastern boundary is concentrated in a narrow jet with smaller temporal and spatial scales. These boundary currents are often hydrodynamically unstable and generate mesoscale and sub-mesoscale variability. In this study...

The importance of a vertical density structure is discussed for what the liydrologic response and circulation pattern of small basins are concerned. The existence of a density stratification is parameterized through a penetration depth of vertical mixing, and different physical situations are analyzed under a specific set of model assumptions and i...

A recent algal bloom in the East Johor Strait has led to the damage of marine life in the water channel. This has lead to heavy economic losses to the fish farms located along the water channel. There is a desire to study and be able to predict the occurrences of algal blooms so that their effects on the fish industry can be reduced. Many factors s...

The Mediterranean Sea is an enclosed basin composed of two similar basins and different sub-basins. It is a concentration basin, where evaporation exceeds precipitation. In the surface layer there is an inflow of Atlantic water which is modified along its path to the Eastern basin. This transformation occurs through surface heat loss and evaporatio...

The effectiveness of an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) is assessed in the Selat Pauh of Singapore using observing system simulation experiment. Perfect model experiments are first considered. The perfect model experiments examine the EnKF in reducing the initial perturbations with no further errors than those in the initial conditions. Current veloc...

The Mediterranean Region has many morphologic, geographical, historical, and societal characteristics, which make its climate scientifically interesting. The concept of Mediterranean climate is characterized by mild wet winters and warm to hot, dry summers and occur on the west side of continents between about 30° and 40° latitude. However, the pre...

Cited By (since 1996): 6, Export Date: 15 January 2013, Source: Scopus, doi: 10.1016/S1571-9197(06)80007-8, Language of Original Document: English, Correspondence Address: Tsimplis, M.N.; James Rennell Division for Ocean Circulation and Climate, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom; email: mnt@noc.soton.ac.uk, References: Artal...

This report summarizes goals, activities, and recommendations of a workshop on data assimilation held in Williamsburg, Virginia on September 9-11, 2003, and sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) and National Science Foundation (NSF). The overall goal of the workshop was to synthesize research directions for ocean data assimilation (D...

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses that the North Atlantic plus the Mediterranean Sea is viewed as a unique system whose internal dynamics, regulated by the exchanges at the Strait of Gibraltar, is still rather unknown. It discusses numerical modeling results as a complement to the data analysis. Three issues are discusses in the chapter rela...

The relative role of extraequatorial mechanisms modulating decadal sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the equatorial Atlantic is investigated using a suite of sensitivity experiments based on an ocean general circulation model. The model is forced by observed wind stress and/or computed heat flux from an associated advective atmospheric mi...

An ocean general circulation model (OGCM) of the tropical Atlantic is coupled to an advective atmospheric boundary layer model. This configuration is used to investigate the hypothesis that resolving tropical instability waves (TIWs) in OGCMs will remove the equatorial cold bias that is a feature common to coarse-resolution OGCMs. It is shown that...

An idealized numerical model of the tropical Atlantic Ocean is used to study the structure, energetics and heat flux of the Atlantic tropical instability waves (TIWs). The model results compare well with the observations, and they both show that, unlike commonly assumed, the TIWs in the Atlantic exist on both sides of the equator and are generated...

Several different OGCMs of the tropical Atlantic are used to study the effect of tropical instability waves (TIWs) on the equatorial mixed layer heat budget. We will report especially on two new and important results: Firstly, the often reported large meridional heat flux convergence of the TIWs is partly compensated by the associated vertical heat...

An idealized numerical simulation of the tropical Atlantic Ocean is used to study the dynamics of an Atlantic subsurface countercurrent, the South Equatorial Undercurrent (SEUC). The particular structure of the SEUC between 28° and 10°W allows for a reformulation of the transformed Eulerian mean (TEM) equations with which the momentum balance of th...

A 100 year integration of an eddy resolving numerical model of the tropical Atlantic is analyzed to quantify the interannual variability caused by internal variability of ocean dynamics. It is found that, except for the spring position of the SST maximum, the strength of internal variability in the tropical Atlantic is comparable to published mid-l...

During the CIESM workshop (Monaco, 22–24 April 2002) entitled “Monitoring Hydro- logical Trends in the Mediterranean”, the review of existing data sets and analyses has revealed important variability in the dynamics and hydrological characteristics, in the past century, ranging from interannual to decadal time scales. These variations are related m...

A numerical model of the Atlantic ocean is used to understand the observations of the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) along the equatorial Atlantic. It is demonstrated that the the available velocity measurements of the equatorial AAIW can be explained by seasonal Rossby waves, and that their previous interpretation as strong zonal currents cou...

In this study, a reduced-rank stationary Kalman filter is used to assimilate TOPEX/Poseidon sea-surface height anomaly (SHA) data into a realistic model of the tropical Atlantic Ocean. The goal is to assess how the interhemispheric transports between the Atlantic subtropics and tropics are affected by the assimilation of TOPEX/Poseidon altimetry an...

The goal of this study is to compare the performances of the ensemble Kalman filter and a reduced-rank extended Kalman filter when applied to different dynamic regimes. Data assimilation experiments are performed using an eddy-resolving quasi-geostrophic model of the wind-driven ocean circulation. By changing eddy viscosity, this model exhibits two...

In winter 1995 the last major field work of the Physical Oceanography of the Eastern Mediterranean (POEM) program was carried out, the Levantine Intermediate Water Experiment (LIWEX). In this study a thorough analysis is presented of the data set collected during three successive surveys in January, February, and March–April 1995. The major overall...

In winter 1995 the last major field work of the Physical Oceanography of the Eastern Mediterranean (POEM) program was carried out, the Levantine Intermediate Water Experiment (LIWEX). In this study a thorough analysis is presented of the data set collected during three successive surveys in January, February, and March–April 1995. The major overall...

The Black Sea ecosystem is shown to experience abrupt shifts in its all trophic levels from primary producers to apex predators in 1995-1996. It arises as a manifestation of concurrent changes in its physical climate introduced by intensive warming of its surface waters as well as abrupt increases in the mean sea level and the net annual mean fresh...

The goal of this study is to evaluate a specific type of reduced-rank Kalman filter for application to realistic ocean models. Data assimilation experiments were performed using an idealized nonlinear model of the wind-driven ocean circulation. Separate configurations of the model were employed that exhibit either a quasi-periodic behavior on the d...

A high resolution general circulation model (OGCM) is used to investigate the life cycle of North Brazil Current (NBC) rings. The focus of the study is on explaining the generation mechanisms of the rings and their vertical structure. The OGCM is used in a configuration simplified as much as possible but capable of reproducing a realistic mean circ...

In ∼1990 a new source of deep water formation in the Eastern Mediterranean was found in the southern part of the Aegean sea. Till then, the only source of deep water formation in the Eastern Mediterranean was in the Adriatic sea; the rate of the deep water formation of the new Aegean source is 1 Sv, three times larger than the Adriatic source. We d...

In this study we explore the ability of three parameterization schemes to represent mesoscale eddies' effects in a single, idealized ocean basin. We first carry out an eddy-resolving simulation with an ocean general circulation model (GCM). The three schemes tested are the traditional Fickian diffusion and the Green-Stone (GS) and Gent-McWilliams (...

This paper presents an analysis of subduction and advection within the shallow subtropical-tropical connections (STC) of the Atlantic Ocean. We carried out a kinematic study of the seasonal cycle of subduction, entrainment, and subsurface circulation in an upper Atlantic Ocean general circulation model (GCM), with a particular emphasis on the south...

A reduced-gravity, primitive equation, upper-ocean GCM is used to study subduction pathways in the Atlantic subtropical and tropical gyres. In order to compare the different responses in the pathways to strong and weak wind stress forcings, Hellerman and Rosenstein (HR) and da Silva (DSV) climatological annual-mean and monthly wind stress forcings...

Several different time series of chlorophyll images from the 1997–2000 Seaviewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor data set have been analysed to gain a perspective on the dynamical and biological variability in the Black Sea, particularly on its northwestern shelf region and along the Anatolian coastal zone. The images are interpreted in terms of documen...

The present paper summarizes the results of several simulations of the central Black Sea pelagic food web using three different 1-D, physical–biochemical, water column process models. The most simplified, five-compartment version is used to explore the robust biological features of the ecosystem and the role of upper-layer physics on the evolution...

An ocean general circulation model is used to study the warm water return flow of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) in the tropical Atlantic. Special emphasis was put on the dynamics and the function of the Atlantic Tsuchyia Jets (TJs). It is demonstrated that the TJs are in part driven directly by the wind and in part driven by the conv...

The singular values associated with optimally growing perturbations to stationary and time-dependent solutions for the general circulation in an ocean basin provide a measure of the rate at which solutions with nearby initial conditions begin to diverge, and hence, a measure of the predictability of the flow. In this paper, the singular vectors and...

Using the Black Sea ecosystem as an example, the phytoplankton seasonal cycle is simulated by several coupled physical-ecosystem models with different vertical resolutions, but the same biological setting. First, a high resolution multi-level model having a vertical grid spacing of about 3 m is shown to reproduce the observed annual phytoplankton s...

An ocean GCM is used for idealized studies of the Atlantic circulation in a square basin. The subtropical, the tropical, and the equatorial gyres are produced by forcing the model with a wind stress profile having only latitudinal dependence. The goal is to understand the effect of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) on the Atlantic interg...

Recent changes in structure and functioning of the interior Black Sea ecosystem are studied by a series of simulations using a one-dimensional, vertically resolved, coupled physical-biochemical model. The simulations are intended to provide a better understanding of how the pelagic food web structure responds to increasing grazing pressure by gelat...

A one-dimensional, vertically resolved, physical-biogeochemical model is used to provide a unified representation of the dynamically coupled oxic-suboxic-anoxic system for the interior Black Sea. The model relates the annual cycle of plankton production in the form of a series of successive phytoplankton, mesozooplankton, and higher consumer blooms...

Venice is imperiled as a result of increased tidal flooding, and engineering solutions must be found if the city is to be saved for future generations. A proposal to build movable gates at the three inlets of the lagoon offers the most promise for safeguarding the city.

A primitive equation ocean circulation model in nonlinear terrain-following coordinates is applied to a decadal-length simulation of the circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean. In addition to the stretched sigma coordinate, novel features of the model include the utilization of a weakly dissipative, third-order scheme for tracer advection, and a c...

A primitive equation, hydrostatic, terrain-following coordinate ocean general circulation model (OGCM) is used to investigate the mean water mass pathways from the subtropics to the tropics in the Atlantic Ocean. The OGCM is used in a fully realistic configuration of the Atlantic, from 30°S to 65°N, with realistic bathymetry. Surface forcings are p...

The biological production characteristics of the Rhodes and western Ionian basins of the eastern Mediterranean are studied by a one-dimensional, coupled physical–biological model. The biological model involves single aggregated compartments of phytoplankton, zooplankton, detritus as well as ammonium and nitrate forms of the inorganic nitrogen. It i...

The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Modular Ocean Model 2.2 code with coarse resolution (4°×3°) is assessed by performing three experiments and comparing their equilibrated solutions with recent observationally based analyses (OBAs). The first experiment (E1) uses subgrid-scale horizontal diffusion and surface boundary conditions which relax...

When a jet is simulated in a fine-resolution regional model with inflow and outflow boundaries, its dynamical behavior depends crucially on the specified inflow boundary condition (IBC). Our primary goals are (1) to explore the model's ability to simulate the jet when the IBC is approximately known, (2) to examine the dynamical propagation and grow...

We present definitive observational evidence that the startling change of the Eastern Mediterranean deep circulation observed in winter 1995 and documented by [Roether, W., Manca, B.B., Klein. B., Bregant, D., Georgopoulos, D., Beitzel, V., Kovacevich, V., Luchetta, A., 1996. Recent changes in the Eastern Mediterranean deep water. Science 271, 333-...

A ten-year dataset of AVHRR-SST (Sea Surface Temperature) with 18 km space resolution and weekly frequency has been analyzed in the Eastern Mediterranean. In Part I of the present study, we examined the seasonal variability of the basin and we defined the time and space scales of the monthly climatologies of the sea surface temperature distribution...

A ten-year dataset of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer-Sea Surface Temperature (AVHRR-SST) with 18-km space resolution and weekly frequency is used to study the seasonal variability of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea surface field. Three main objectives are addressed in this study. The first is to define the time and space scales of the surfa...

A ten-year dataset of AVHRR-SST (Sea Surface Temperature) with 18 km space resolution and weekly frequency has been analyzed in the Eastern Mediterranean. In Part I of the present study, we examined the seasonal variability of the basin and we defined the time and space scales of the monthly climatologies of the sea surface temperature distribution...