Staff Profile

Jia-Lin Chen

Preferred Name: Dr Julie Chen

Guest Investigator

Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering

Email: jia-lin.chen@whoi.edu

Phone:

Education

• Posdoc Investigator, AOPE WHOI, USA

• Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Delaware, USA

• M.S., Hydroinformatics and Water Management Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Program, EuroAquae, EU
• B.S., Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering (Major) Computer Science (Minor) National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

Research Statement

The physical processes in the coastal ocean that govern the exchange between the inner shelf and the open ocean are critical for mass exchange and ecological processes. Understanding the dynamic response in this region is challenging owing to the complexity of the seafloor topography. The recent study from my research group indicates that the magnitudes of convergence/divergence and cyclonic/anticyclonic circulations are one to two orders of magnitude greater than those in the open ocean. The observed velocity measurements were projected onto the along- and across-Kuroshio components. A significant across-Kuroshio velocity was found over shallow ridges owing to the flow separation and bottom Ekman spiral. The strong negative relative vorticity on the lee of the pinnacle is an important factor that leads to sub-mesoscale instability and amplifies turbulent mixing. The typical value of turbulent diffusivity reaches O (10^-1 m² s^-1), which is 10⁴ greater than that observed in the open ocean thermocline. Therefore, turbulent mixing on the lee of pinnacles over the seamount further enhances nutrient delivery along the Kuroshio.