Thomas Rossby

Thomas H Rossby

Emeritus Professor of Oceanography

trossby@gso.uri.edu

http://po.gso.uri.edu/rafos/index.html

Educational Background

Ph.D., Oceanography
B.S., Applied Physics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Royal Institute of Technology

1966
1962

Areas of Specialization

Research

Tom Rossby's current research interests include the dynamics and kinematics of ocean currents with special interest in the Gulf Stream and the circulation of the North Atlantic. He is also interested in ocean instrumentation issues.

Teaching

Tom Rossby is developing a new interdisciplinary course titled: 'A Lagrangian Approach to Oceanography'

Students

Gabrielle McGrath
William Woityra
David Luce
Peter Lazarevich
Paula Perez-Brunius

M.S.
M.S.
M.S.
Ph.D.
Ph.D.

2006
2005
2005
2002
2002

Publications:

Luce, D. and T. Rossby, 2008. On the size and distribution of Rings and coherent Vortices in the Sargasso Sea. J. Geophys. Res. In press.

Woityra, W. and T. Rossby, 2008. Current Broadening as a Mechanism for Anticyclogenesis at the Northwest Corner of the North Atlantic Current. Geophys. Res. Letters, 35, L05609, doi:10.1029/2007GL033063

Rossby, T., 2007. “Evolution of Lagrangian methods in Oceanography. Chapter 1 in Lagrangian Analysis and Prediction in Coastal and Ocean Processes. Cambridge University Press.

Fischer, G., D. Lee, M. O’Bara, P. Kasturi, T. Rossby, and C. Recksiek, 2007. Tracking Small Fish with a MW Acoustic Receiver- An Archival Tag Development. IEEE J. Oc. Engineering.

Flagg, C. N., M. Dunn, D. Wang, H. T. Rossby, and R. L. Benway, 2006. A study of the currents of the outer shelf and upper slope from a decade of shipboard ADCP observations in the Middle Atlantic Bight, J. Geophys. Res., 111, C06003, doi:10.1029/2005JC003116.

Presentations:

Free falling probe current and temperature measurement system. Proceedings IEEE/CMTC, Charleston, SC. Mar. 17, 2008. With Viola Wolter.

Exchange of waters between the NE Atlantic and Nordic Seas: A Lagrangian Perspective. PO departmental seminar st RSMAS/Univ. Miami Mar 12, 2008.

Lagrangian studies of warmwater pathways in the Nordic Seas. Ocean Sciences meeting Orlando, FL. Mar. 7, 2008. With M. Prater and H. Søiland.

Merchant marine vessels as ocean-level ‘orbiting’ satellites: A science and industry partnership for the systematic observation of the ocean. Invited talk Ocean Sciences meeting Orlando, FL. Mar. 5, 2008.

Zooming in on the ocean with the help of new technologies Or: How Earth’s rotation shapes ocean currents. All high-school talk at the Wheeler School, Providence, Nov 8, 2007.

Sustained ocean observation from merchant marine vessels. Invited lunch talk given at the Ocean Studies Board, National Academies, Washington, Sept 28, 2007.

Isopycnal Analysis of Near-surface Waters in the Norwegian-Barents Sea Region. Conference paper at the Annual Science Conference of the ICES. Maastricht, Sept. 21, 2006. With V. Ozhigin, V. Ivshin and S. Bacon.

The Gulf Stream – A Fundamental Component of our Climate System –A Survey. Invited talk at the Climate Symposium. Reykjavik, Iceland, Sept. 12, 2006.
On the Role of Salt in the Dansgaard-Oeschger Events. Oc. Sci. Meeting, Hawaii. Feb. 23, 2006.