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Ueno Lab (Marine Environmental Science Group)
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The lab explores ocean variability and ecosystems through mesoscale eddies, the ocean's counterparts to high- and low-pressure systems.
AboutAbout the lab
Capturing ocean variability and uncovering how it works
The Ueno Lab studies how ocean temperature and salinity vary, and the mechanisms behind that variability.
The ocean has what are called oceanic mesoscale eddies, the sea's counterparts to high- and low-pressure systems, which change temperature and salinity on scales of several months and about 100 km.
Together with researchers within and outside Hokkaido University, the lab also investigates how such ocean variability affects marine ecosystems made up of plankton, fish, and other organisms.
Its research combines analysis of publicly available observational data with observations from the North Pacific to the Arctic Ocean aboard the training vessel Oshoro Maru.
Key terms
- Oceanic mesoscale eddy
- An eddy in the ocean about 100 km in diameter. It moves over several months, carrying temperature, salinity, and nutrients
- Phytoplankton
- Tiny algae that drift in the sea. They multiply through photosynthesis and form the base of the food supply for marine life
- Pacific Summer Water
- Relatively warm seawater that flows from the Pacific into the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait from spring to autumn
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to capture ocean variability across a range of time and space scales and understand its mechanisms, and to understand how that variability affects marine ecosystems. Its research combines data analysis with shipboard ocean observations.
*Illustrative imageMesoscale eddies: the ocean's highs and lows
Just as daily weather changes with high- and low-pressure systems, ocean temperature and salinity change with oceanic mesoscale eddies. The lab aims to capture ocean variability on many scales and understand its mechanisms.
*Illustrative imageOcean variability and ecosystems
The subarctic open North Pacific is rich in nutrients but has few phytoplankton, and iron deficiency has been suggested as the cause. Together with researchers within and outside Hokkaido University, the lab investigates mechanisms such as how mesoscale eddies carry iron-rich coastal water to the open ocean and support phytoplankton production.
*Illustrative imageData analysis and shipboard observations
The lab analyzes publicly available shipboard observation data, as well as data from the Argo float array and from satellites. Aboard the training vessel Oshoro Maru, it observes the ocean from the subarctic North Pacific to the Arctic Ocean, and also studies the properties of mesoscale eddies and their effects on ecosystems.
*Illustrative imageA changing Arctic Ocean
Arctic sea ice has declined greatly over the past several decades, and one cited cause is the increase in heat carried northward by Pacific Summer Water. The lab has obtained results suggesting that warming by sunlight in the Chukchi Sea further increases the heat carried into the Arctic Ocean.
MembersFaculty
- ProfessorHiromichi Ueno
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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: “A Sea Aswirl With Chlorophyll (154699 - pce 20250712 lrg)” NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using PACE data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview and the NASA Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center OB.DAAC. Story by Lindsey Doermann. / Public domain (cropped)
- Mesoscale eddies: the ocean's highs and lows: “The Eddy and the Plankton - NASA Earth Observatory” NASA's Earth Observatory / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Ocean variability and ecosystems: “Turquoise Swirls in the Black Sea, crop1” Norman Kuring / NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Data analysis and shipboard observations: “OshoroMaru5 a fishery research and training vessel of School of Fisheries Sciences Hokkaido University” Ootahara / CC0 (cropped)
- A changing Arctic Ocean: “Sea Ice in the Chukchi Sea ( )” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Marine Environmental Science Lab (Associate Professor Hatsumi Nishikawa)): “Open- and Closed-Cell Clouds over the Pacific Ocean (MODIS)” MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Kasai Lab (Marine Environmental Science Group)): “Mise à l'eau d'une rosette de bouteilles Niskin et sonde CTD depuis le navire océanographique Thalassa” Phycoplankton / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Satellite Resource Measurement Lab (Ocean Measurement Division)): “Aquarius Sea Surface Salinity” NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Ecosystem Change Analysis Lab): “Tracking Sea Turtles ( )” U.S. Geological Survey from Reston, VA, USA / Public domain (cropped)
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