PhD students

David Dylan O'Brien-Møller

Title of the PhD project
Building the coastal ARGO (ARGO+)

Supervisors
Patrizio Mariani and Colin Stedmon, DTU Aqua & Roberto Galeazzi, DTU Electro

Background of the project
Argo floats are autonomous, freely drifting profiling instruments capable of adjusting their buoyancy to move vertically in the water column. Typically deployed in open ocean environments for periods of 4-6 years, Argo floats operate by drifting at approximately 1000 meters depth for about 10 days before descending to 2000 meters. From there, they ascend toward the surface, collecting vital oceanographic data such as temperature and salinity. Upon surfacing, they transmit collected data via satellite. Over the past two decades, thousands of Argo floats have revolutionized ocean data collection, significantly enhancing our understanding of ocean dynamics and climate processes.

About the project
Despite their widespread use and success, Argo floats face limitations in specific marine environments. In areas with strong currents, Argo floats are quickly displaced from regions of scientific interest. Additionally, in shallow coastal areas, these floats risk being driven ashore or are unable to perform their standard deep-water profiling cycles. This project aims to develop technology to enable Argo floats to operate in coastal areas through developing methods for Argo floats to control their position. To take advantage of the new areas open to Argo floats, novel sensor technology will be integrated into Argo floats, enabling collection of new types of oceanographic data previously unavailable in these regions.

Perspectives
Increasing the types of data that can be collected by Argo floats and increasing the area in which they can operate in, especially in coastal areas, will yield critical data from currently under-sampled coastal regions. Ultimately, these advancements will improve our understanding of coastal marine ecosystems, ocean processes, and human impacts on these vital environments.

Previous PhD students within the research area Observation Technology

Philip Alexander Hedlund Smith 
Big data analytics to support ecosystem-based risk management of marine ecosystems (link to thesis awaits publication)

Aurelia Pereira Gabellini
Ecological connectivity in the Atlantic Ocean: Past, present and future

Anshul Chauhan
Resolving marine ecosystem dynamics in time and space with machine learning approaches

Søren Lorenzen Post
Blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou): behaviour and distribution in Greenland waters