What Controls Shear Instabilities at Tropical Wave Fronts?

Profile Picture of - Mia Sophie Specht

Mia Sophie Specht

Abstract information

In this video, Mia Sophie Specht presents her research on tropical instability waves in the Atlantic Ocean and the vertical shear instabilities that develop at their fronts. Using a 12-year high-resolution ocean model simulation, she examines when and where deep reaching mixing occurs. Her findings show that this mixing is strongly seasonal, limited to boreal summer, and arises from the interaction between wave-driven shear and the background equatorial current system. The work underscores the need for long-term, high-resolution analyses to better understand how small-scale ocean processes shape climate-relevant dynamics.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB101242

Researcher

Mia Sophie Specht is a postdoctoral researcher in the Climate Variability Department at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg. Her research focuses on tropical Atlantic ocean circulation, vertical mixing processes, ocean–atmosphere interactions, and tropical instability waves, combining high-resolution simulations with observational data. She earned her PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in 2023 as part of the International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling, with a dissertation on the variability of instability waves in the Atlantic Ocean.

Institution information

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) is an internationally renowned institute for climate research, founded in Hamburg in 1975, affiliated with the Max Planck Society and the University of Hamburg. Scientists at MPI-M investigate what determines the sensitivity of the Earth system to perturbations such as the changing composition of its atmosphere, and work toward establishing the sources and limits of predictability within the Earth system, developing and analysing sophisticated Earth system models complemented by targeted measurements and satellite observations. The MPI-M comprises three departments: Climate Dynamics, Climate Physics, and Climate Variability.
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
Cover Photo of - Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

Original Publication

Seasonality of Subsurface Shear Instabilities at Tropical Instability Wave Fronts in the Atlantic Ocean in a High‐Resolution Simulation

Mia Sophie Specht,

Johann Jungclaus,

Jürgen Bader

Published in

Citation

Mia Sophie Specht, 

Latest Thinking, 

What Controls Shear Instabilities at Tropical Wave Fronts?, 

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB101242, 

Credits:

© Mia Sophie Specht 

and Latest Thinking

This work is licensed under CC-BY 4.0