Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Address: 303A GFDL

Phone: (609) 452-5380

Email: amelet at princeton.edu

Publications            Vita

My research focuses on the climatic impacts of internal-wave driven mixing in the ocean. Internal waves can be generated by winds at the surface of the ocean, or by flows over rough topography. The breaking of internal waves is the main source of diapycnal mixing in the ocean interior. Diapycnal mixing plays a key role in maintaining the ocean stratification and meridional overturning circulation, which is directly related to the transport of heat and carbon dioxyde in the ocean. Thus, internal-wave driven mixing can directly impact the climate. However, such processes can not be explicitly resolved in climate models, and have to be parameterized. Parameterizations of internal-wave driven mixing are being developed by a collaborative Climate Process Team. My present research activities are to participate in the development of such parameterizations, implement them in GFDL's global ocean-only and coupled models and study the climatic impact of the parameterized process.  

Figure 1:  Cartoon schematic of generation and dissipation processes for internal waves in the ocean.  Credit: Amy Waterhouse.

Other research interests include the oceanic circulations in the Solomon Sea as part of the CLIVAR / SPICE  and ANR / Solwara programs, using a wide range of methodological approaches : high-resolution regional modeling, altimetric data and data assimilation.  The western boundary currents transiting through the Solomon Sea represent a major source of the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent and at thermocline level, and of the Warm Pool in the surface layers. Therefore, it was hypothesized that changes on either the WBC transports or water masses characteristics occurring in this region could impact on the equatorial mass field through equatorial upwelling with potential consequences on the equatorial sea surface temperature, air-sea interactions and ultimately on the Pacific decadal climate variability such as the low-frequency modulation of ENSO. More information about my Solomon Sea research activities can be found here.

• M. Doron, P. Brasseur, J.-M. Brankart, S. N. Losa, A. Melet, 2013. « Stochastic estimation of biogeochemical parameters from Globcolour ocean colour satellite data in a North Atlantic 3D ocean coupled physical-biogeochemical model ». Journal of Marine Systems, in press.
• A. Melet, R. Hallberg, S. Legg, K. Polzin, 2013b. « Sensitivity of the Pacific Ocean state to the formulation of the vertical profile of internal-tide driven mixing ». Journal of Physical Oceanography, in press, doi: 10.1175/JPO-D-12-055.1.
• A. Melet, L. Gourdeau, J. Verron, B. Djath, 2013a. « Solomon Sea circulations and water mass modifications: response at ENSO timescales ». Ocean Dynamics, vol 63 (1), pp. 1-19, doi: 10.1007/s10236-012-0582-0.
• A. Melet, J. Verron, J.M. Brankart, 2012. « Potential outcomes of glider data assimilation in the Solomon Sea: Control of the water mass properties and parameter estimation». Journal of Marine Systems, vol 94, pp 232-246, doi: 10.1016/j.jmarsys.2011.12.003.
• A. Melet , J. Verron, L. Gourdeau, A.  Koch-Larrouy, 2011. «  Equatorward pathways of Solomon Sea water masses and their modifications », Journal of Physical Oceanography, vol 41 (4), pp 810-826, doi: 10.1175/2010JPO4559.1.
  
• A. Melet, W. S. Kessler, L. Gourdeau, J. Verron, J.M. Molines, 2010. « Thermocline circulation in the Solomon Sea: A modeling study », Journal of Physical Oceanography, vol 40 (6), pp 1302-1319, doi: 10.1175/2009JPO4264.1  
• A. Melet , L. Gourdeau, J. Verron, 2010. « Variability of the Solomon Sea from altimetry sea level data ». Ocean Dynamics, vol 60 (4), pp 883-900, doi: 10.1007/s10236-010-0302-6.
• M. Grenier, S. Cravatte, B. Blanke, C. Menkes, A. Koch-Larrouy, F. Durand, A. Melet, C. Jeandel, 2011. « From the western boundary currents to the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent: Modeled pathways and water mass evolutions», Journal of Geophysical Research – Oceans, 116, C12044, doi: 10.1029/2011JC007477.
  
• A. Melet-Dieudonné. Solomon Sea circulations : high-resolution modeling and altimetry. PhD Thesis, University of Grenoble, France, 2010.

Submitted / In revision :

• A. Melet, R. Hallberg, S. Legg, M. Nikurashin, 2013. « Sensitivity of the ocean state to Lee wave driven mixing ». In revision for the Journal of Physical Oceanography.
• A. Melet, M. Nikurashin, C. Muller, S. Falahat, J. Nycander, P. Timko, B. Arbic, J. Goff, 2013. «  Impact  of abyssal hill roughness on internal-tide generation: linear theory ». Submitted to the  Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans.
• B. Djath, A. Melet, J. Verron, J.M. Molines, B. Barnier, L. Gourdeau, L. Debreu, 2013. « A 1/36° model of the Solomon Sea embedded into a global ocean model: on the setting up of an interactive open boundary condition nested model system ». Submitted to the Journal of Operational Oceanography.

Other (CLIVAR Newsletter Exchanges) :

• SPICE Community: D. Burrage, S. Cravatte, P. Dutrieux, A. Ganachaud, R. Hughes, W. Kessler, A. Melet, C. Steinberg, A. Schiller, 2012.  «  Naming  a  western  boundary  current  from  Australia  to  the  Solomon  Sea  ».  CLIVAR  Newsletter Exchanges, 17 (58, 1), pp 28.
• A. Ganachaud, M. Bowen, G. Brassington, W. Cai, S. Cravatte, R. Davis, L. Gourdeau, T. Hasegawa, L. Hill, N. Holbrook, W. Kessler, C. Maes, A. Melet, B. Qiu, K. Ridgway, D. Roemmich, A. Schiller, U. Send, B. Sloyan, J. Sprintall, C. Steinberg, P. Sutton, J. Verron, M. Widlansky, P. Wiles,  2013.  « Advances from the Southwest Pacific Ocean Circulation and Climate Experiment (SPICE). » CLIVAR Newsletter Exchanges 18, no. 61, pp 16–23.