Networking with the physical oceanography greats

By Tamaryn Morris, ASCA Coordinator, SAEON Egagasini Node

Delegates view the wide range of posters on display

Prof. Walter Munk, a 97-year-old physical oceanographer from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego, travelled across the world to give two talks at the general assembly

Cape Town will play host to the IAPSO-IAMAS-IAGA Assembly in 2017 with support from the SAEON Egagasini Node

The 26^th General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) was held in Prague, Czech Republic, from 22 June to 2 July 2015.

The IUGG is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation established in Brussels in 1919. It brings together eight associations^* which focus on scientific studies of the Earth (in terms of physics, chemistry and maths), and its relationship within space. The scientific variety of these associations is vast, with over 5 000 delegates attending this year’s general assembly.

Of these eight associations, the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO) is the focus for physical oceanographers from around the world. The sessions for the IAPSO section of the conference ranged from sub-mesoscale eddies to oceanic boundary currents and ocean mixing, and to much larger processes such as the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), Southern Hemispheric forcing of the MOC and carbon cycle and quite prominently, the Southern Ocean - ranging from sea ice to ocean processes and atmosphere. Topics were spectacularly varied and the calibre of presentations very high.

Of particular mention were two talks by Prof. Walter Munk, a 97-year-old physical oceanographer from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and a pioneer researcher in the field of internal waves. The first talk gave an overview of work achieved in the early part of the 20^th Century on internal wave investigations, while his latter talk focused on more up-to-date research. For a man of his age, to travel across the world to give these two talks demonstrates a level of dedication to research not seen very often in fields outside of science.

The author presented her first paper from her PhD, entitled “Argo float trajectories and the southwest Madagascar eddies: Dispersion experiments within the Agulhas Current source region”. The presentation allowed for some very helpful guidance with Prof. Will de Ruijter of Utrech University and an expert in the region, Dr Marjolaine Krug of the CSIR and researchers from the Canary Islands working on similar dynamical studies of mesoscale eddies in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Additional networking opportunities of interest to SAEON included discussions around the MOC and mooring arrays, the second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2) and Argo float deployments and research within South African waters.

Cape Town to host 2017 Assembly

Cape Town will play host to the IAPSO-IAMAS-IAGA Assembly in 2017, a smaller grouping of only three of the eight associations, but which play prominent roles in scientific research within South Africa. The assembly will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 27 August to 1 September 2017 and will be coordinated by Prof. Isabelle Ansorge of the University of Cape Town, with support from Cape Town-based research groups, including the SAEON Egagasini Node.

^* International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS); International Association of Geodesy (IAG); International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA); International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS); International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS); International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (IASPEI); International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI); and International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO)