XVIII Alpine Summer School on Buoyancy-Drive Flows

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole MA

Investigators

Abstract

Buoyancy is one of the main forces driving flows on our planet, especially in the ocean and atmosphere. Buoyancy driven flows encompass a wide spectrum of geophysical flows that range from buoyant coastal currents to dense overflows in the ocean, and from avalanches to volcanic pyroclastic flows on the Earth's surface. In the ocean, buoyant coastal currents transport fresh water, heat, nutrients, sediments, biogeochemicals, pollutants, and biological organisms along many continental shelves and, hence, have important impacts on ecosystems, fisheries, and the coastal circulation. The XVIII Alpine Summer School entitled 'Buoyancy-Driven Flows' will be held in Aosta, Italy, from June 20 to July 1, 2010. The Co-directors of the school will be: Claudia Cenedese (WHOI); Eric Chassignet (FSU); and Jacques Verron (INPG). The summer school will last 10 days with approximately 10 invited speakers, each presenting 2 or 3 pedagogical lectures. In addition to formal lectures, shorter 'research seminars' will be given by a few additional senior participants. Attendees will also have the opportunity to present their work via poster sessions and to participate in a debate on the importance of buoyancy-driven flows in climate. While it is planned to have a series of lectures with a strong emphasis on the ocean, it is also intended to discuss a wider range of geophysical problems (avalanches, volcanic flows, atmospheric flows, etc.). The intention is to collect the lecture notes and publish them in a book. Intellectual Merit: The lectures will first give a broad overview of the current state-of-the-art research in buoyancy-driven flows and will be put in the context of a wider range of geophysical problems (avalanches, volcanic flows, atmospheric flows, etc.). Then, more specific lectures will focus on the importance of correctly representing processes than are not currently resolved in the ocean component of climate models. Given the impact of buoyancy flows on the ocean circulation and the Earth's climate, it is considered timely to bring together leading scientists to summarize the present theoretical, experimental, and modeling understanding of buoyancy-driven flows. Broader Impact: One specific objective of the school is to expose young graduate students and recent Ph.D. recipients to the importance of buoyancy-driven flows in the ocean circulation and in the present day climate, from a combined theoretical, experimental, and modeling point of view. Furthermore, the lecture notes will be published as a text book.