"Environmental fluid dynamics underlies a wealth of natural, industrial and, by extension, societal challenges. The objective of research in the ENDLab is to address key research challenges in the field to generate understanding that can underpin informed decision making for a sustainable planet."
Research
Is Deep-Sea Mining Worth It?
The abyssal ocean possesses vast reserves of minerals such as nickel and cobalt, many times those of all global land-based reserves, in the form of polymetallic nodules. Trillions of these nodules, which took millions of years to accrete, are openly strewn across the abyssal plains. In recent years there has been a substantial increase in activities on the topic of deep-sea mining, with 18 exploration licenses granted in the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ), an extensive area of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico. Driving... [read more "Is Deep-Sea Mining Worth It?"]
Using dynamical systems to assist SAROPS
Every year, hundreds of people die at sea because of vessel and airplane accidents. A key challenge in reducing the number of these fatalities is to make Search and Rescue (SAR) algorithms more efficient. Here, we address this challenge by uncovering hidden TRansient Attracting Profiles (TRAPs) in ocean-surface velocity data. Computable from a single velocity-field snapshot, TRAPs act as short-term attractors for all floating objects. In three different ocean field experiments, we show that TRAPs computed from measured as well as modeled... [read more "Using dynamical systems to assist SAROPS"]
Whither the Chukchi Slope Current?
Recent measurements and modeling indicate that roughly half of the Pacific-origin water exiting the Chukchi Sea shelf through Barrow Canyon forms a westward-flowing current known as the Chukchi Slope Current (CSC), yet the trajectory and fate of this current is presently unknown. In a recent ENDLab study, publised in the Journal of Physical Oceanography, through the combined use of shipboard velocity data and information from five profiling floats deployed as quasi-Lagrangian particles, we delve further into the trajectory and the... [read more "Whither the Chukchi Slope Current?"]
News
Successful recovery of Arctic Ocean instrumentation
Despite the challenges of Covid on at-sea operations, with the very generous help of a team of Korean collaborations, Dr. Chanyung Jeon was able to coordinate from land the succesful recovery of six Pop-up Data Shuttle (PDS) Current and Pressure-recording Inverted Echo Sounders (CPIES) from the Arctic Ocean. Dr Jeon coordinated with the team before they headed off on an extended research cruise aboard the R/V Araon. The resulting data will provide new insight into the penetration of near... Explore more...
Blue resilience brief for the UN Global Compact
In a new brief by the UN Global Compact, Professor Thomas Peacock outlines the pressing need for a unified approach to data-sharing for a resilient ocean economy, especially in the face of Covid-19. The report, written with co-authors Dr. Robert Blasiak and Dr. Matthew Slater, as well as members of the UN Global Compact, addresses advancements in data sharing and technology, resilience in the aquaculture indsutry, and the development of biomedical applications from marine genetic resources.... Explore more...
ENDLab deep-sea sediment sensor project featured in Sea Technology magazine
Thanks to a research award from ARPA-E, the ENDLab is collaborating with Sequoia Scientific Inc. and the MOD group at Scripps Institution of Oceanography to develop a new, in-situ deep-sea sensor for measuring sedmient settling velocity distribution (SVD) and particle size distribution (PSD). The sensor, slated for development through 2021 and field trials some time in 2022 will operate down to 6000m and provide vital data to inform environmental monitoring and modeling of sediment plumes... Explore more...
