My current research focuses on SWOT data processing and analysis, its applications on marine geophysics and ocean dynamics. Compared to traditional radar altimetry, SWOT measures ocean heights in much finer spatial scales (~15 km) in wide-swath. It is accurate and efficient. In the next 5 years, I will be working on: (1) marine gravity recovery and seafloor prediction using SWOT; (2) small-scale ocean dynamics observed by SWOT.

In addition to my primary emphasis on satellite altimetry and observation-focused research, I have recently begun integrating analytical models into my work. Moving forward, I will focus on incorporating machine learning to scientific research, especially to big data problems. Previsouly, I worked on small-scale ocean dynamics from traditional radar altimetry and ICESat-2 mission (PhD study), and the time-variable gravity field observed by GRACE (masters study).

Marine gravity from satellite altimetry

The solid earth can be seen as static compared to the rapidly changing ocean. By measuring the sea surface height again and again, we are able to get a mean state of the sea surface and derive the structure of the solid earth underneath.
By the end of 2024, the Sandwell lab will make a marine gravity field and a predicted bathymetry based on SWOT KaRIn data along with existing radar altimeters, which will reveal more small-scale tectonic features.

Physical Oceanography

Barotropic tides, general ocean flows, and eddy flows, transfer kinetic energy into internal waves, when interacting with rough seafloor features, such as mid-ocean ridges, seamounts, and abyssal hills. The generation and breaking off of internal waves contribute to ocean mixing, which sustains ocean mass and heat transportation, and drives the thermohaline circulation. Sub-mesoscale to mesoscale (less than 100 km in wavelength) ocean dynamics, including internal tides, waves, and balanced flows, were hard to observe on a global scale limitted by the spatial sampling ability of radar altimtry. SWOT opens an opportunity to exam these dynamics in fine details (~15 km).
I am interested in the dynamics of small-scale ocean activities, especially the interaction with small seamounts and abyssal hills.


Machine learning

• making global predicted bathymetry
This work follows the work built by Hugh Harper. We aim to build a neural network model that using area with ship soundings as training data to make high-resolution global predicted bathymetry.

• picking seamounts
This work is in colloboration with our undergraduate research assistant Martin Hawk, built on the seamounts catalogue hand-picked by Julie Gevorgian.

• making time-variable sea surface height
This is a embryo project. I would like to make and predict high-resolution global sea surface height maps using the high-resolution SWOT observations (limited wide-band coverage), along-with lower-resolution sea surface height from traditional radar altimeters (denser one-dimensional coverage).