Oceanography and Limnology

The ocean covers two-thirds of the Earth's surface, and plays a central role in the global climate by regulating Earth's temperature and biogeochemical cycles. In the northern US, the Great Lakes have similar effects. In CCR, oceanographers work with atmospheric scientists to study how the global ocean and the Great Lakes regulate Earth's temperature and biogeochemical cycles, at regional to global scales. Limnologists, ecologists, and carbon cycle scientists study how water levels and carbon chemistry in the Great Lakes are being modified by climate variability and ecosystem alteration. Timescales studied range from the distant past into the future. Our investigations are focused in the North Atlantic, the global oceans and in the Great Lakes, and our primary tools include fieldwork, satellite data, and the numerical models that we build and analyze.

Principal Investigators

Ankur Desai, Zhengyu Liu, Galen McKinley, Michael Notaro, Patricia Sanford, Steve Vavrus

Affiliates

Clay Kelly, Richard Lathrop, John Magnuson, Shaun Marcott

Current and Recent Projects

Role of Low-Level Clouds in the Accelerated Warming of the Great Lakes - A Dual Observational and Regional Modeling Assessment

Michael Notaro, CCR Associate Director, Senior Scientist
Steve Vavrus, Senior Scientist

Dynamics and Predictability of East and Central Pacific ENSO Events

Dan Vimont, Professor

Understanding ENSO Biases and Their Relation to Mean State Biases

Dan Vimont, Professor

Observed and Simulated Trends in Heavy Lake Effect Snow Events Across the Great Lakes Basin

Michael Notaro, CCR Associate Director, Senior Scientist
Steve Vavrus, Senior Scientist

How Will the Great Lakes Water Levels Respond to Climate Change: Regional Modeling for Application to Decision-Making

Michael Notaro, CCR Associate Director, Senior Scientist

Downscaling Climate Predictions for Michigan and the Great Lakes

Michael Notaro, CCR Associate Director, Senior Scientist
David Lorenz, Associate Scientist

Non-local Physical Controls on Subtropical Marine Productivity

Galen McKinley, Professor