【报告题目】Oceanic turbulence regimes and their impact on the climate system and the environment

【报告人】Prof. Roy Barkan

【时间】2025年4月8日，星期二，15:00

【地点】北京大学物理楼北539

【主办】北京大学海洋研究院、北京大学工学院

【报告人简介】

Prof. Barkan has been a faculty member in the Faculty of Exact Sciences at Tel Aviv University and a researcher in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UCLA since 2018. His research focuses on geophysical and environmental fluid dynamics with an emphasis on understanding oceanic turbulence patterns and processes. In his research he combines analytical theories, high-resolution idealized and realistic numerical circulation models, and observational data analysis to investigate ocean heat, tracer, and energy transport across spatial and temporal scales, and from the ocean surface to the interior. Prof. Barkan holds a Ph.D in oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD.

【报告摘要】

The ocean absorbs most of the heat and about a quarter of the carbon emissions caused by human activities. These anthropogenic perturbations significantly influence the ocean circulation, with direct and critical implications for the climate system. The ocean circulation is characterized by diverse turbulence regimes that span a vast range of spatial and temporal scales. Understanding how these distinct turbulence regimes and their interactions lead to the observed spatiotemporal distributions of energy, heat, and tracers in the ocean is essential for predicting circulation adjustments and their effects on the climate system.

In this talk, I will discuss how the interplay between different oceanic turbulent regimes shapes the ocean circulation, with a particular focus on cross-scale energy transfers and dissipation patterns. I will also distinguish between the dominant processes occurring in the ocean’s mixed layer and in the deeper thermocline region and show some representative examples relevant to pollutant transport and to biology. Finally, I will introduce a new collaborative project funded by the Israeli and Chinese science foundations, aiming to investigate similar processes in the South China Sea.