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Matsuta Lab
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A lab that uses numerical computation to study how ocean currents respond to climate change.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding how ocean circulation works.
The Matsuta Lab studies how ocean currents (ocean circulation) work and how ocean circulation responds to climate change.
The motion of seawater can be described by fluid dynamics and thermodynamics, but phenomena of many different scales are intertwined, so much remains poorly understood.
The lab focuses in particular on regions with strong currents, such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the Kuroshio Extension, and studies nonlinear processes and interactions between scales.
The lab belongs to the Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics and Climate Dynamics course, where students learn the basics of physics and programming early in the master's program, so students can start even without prior exposure to atmospheric and ocean science.
Key terms
- Ocean circulation
- Flows in which water circulates on a global scale within the ocean. Together with the atmosphere, it determines the state of Earth's climate
- Antarctic Circumpolar Current
- An ocean current that circles the entire Antarctic continent. It directly connects the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans
- Mesoscale eddies
- Eddies in the ocean with a size of about 100 km. They carry heat and other properties, and also interact with large ocean currents
ResearchResearch themes
The lab investigates how ocean circulation responds to climate change, centered on theoretical analysis of ocean dynamics and numerical simulation. It also incorporates methods from other fields, such as data analysis and mathematical science.
*Illustrative imageResponse of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to warming
It is known that the westerly winds that drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current strengthen and shift poleward due to global warming and ozone depletion. The lab uses high-resolution ocean general circulation models to examine how the current's response to this change depends on cross-scale interactions with mesoscale eddies.
*Illustrative imageExperiments with an idealized channel model
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is thought to be representable as an idealized channel with periodic boundaries (a channel model). Taking advantage of the ability to simplify the physics, the lab uses numerical experiments to study how the shape of seafloor topography affects the properties of the flow.
*Illustrative imageWhere the Kuroshio and Oyashio meet
The transition region where the Kuroshio and Oyashio meet is warmer and saltier than the Oyashio region because water masses of Kuroshio origin enter it, and it affects the Northern Hemisphere climate through air-sea interaction. The lab studies how long-term variability in the North Pacific affects sea surface temperature in this region.
MembersFaculty
- Assistant ProfessorTakuro Matsuta
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Perpetual Ocean 2- Western Boundary Currents (SVS5425 - perpetual ocean2 CLOSE 093 4k clean noDate 00000 print)” NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio - NASA/GSFC/Greg Shirah, NASA/GSFC/Horace Mitchell, NASA/GSFC/Atousa Saberi, ADNET Systems, Inc./Laurence Schuler, ADNET Systems, Inc./Ian Jones, JPL/Josh Willis, Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc./Kathleen Gaeta / Public domain (cropped)
- Response of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to warming: “Eddies in the Southern Ocean ( )” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA / Public domain (cropped)
- Experiments with an idealized channel model: “Von Karman vortices off Rishiri Island, Japan” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Where the Kuroshio and Oyashio meet: “Sapporo, Japan )” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Tanimoto Lab): “ISS-65 Indian Ocean sunglint” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Biological and Organic Geochemistry Lab): “Misc pollen colorized” Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility, Dartmouth College / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Kawatani Lab): “Helkivad ööpilved Kuresoo kohal” Martin Koitmäe / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Horinochi Lab): “ISS-51 Moon, Earth's limb and the thin blue atmosphere” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
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