The Physics of Oceans and Atmospheres (POA) research discipline contains two core subdisciplines: Physical oceanography and atmospheric sciences.
Teaching and Research Faculty
Andrea Allan, Jack Barth, Jesse Cusack, Simon de Szoeke, Edward Dever, Melanie Fewings, Jonathan Fram, Amrapalli Garanaik, Jessica Garwood, Jennifer Hutchings, Andrea Jenney, Mike Kosro, Jim Lerczak, Ricardo Matano, Phil Mote, Jonathan Nash, Larry O'Neill, Tuba Özkan-Haller, Brodie Pearson, David Rupp, Roger Samelson, Andreas Schmittner, Kipp Shearman, Karen Shell, Emily Shroyer, Nick Siler, Eric Skyllingstad, Yvette Spitz, Justin Wettstein, Greg Wilson, Ed Zaron, Seth Zippel
POA Email Lists
Go to CEOAS Email Lists and search for "poa" using Ctrl-F (Windows, Linux, Chrome OS), ⌘-F (Mac), or tap (upload) then Find on Page (phone or tablet).
Physics of Oceans and Atmospheres Seminar Series
Tuesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Burt 193 and on Zoom
(Unless otherwise noted. Additional or updated information will be added as it becomes available.)
Winter Term 2026
POA seminars will be held on Tuesdays at 3:30 PM in Burt 193.
Information will be updated as it becomes available.
If you would like to present, are hosting a visitor, know someone who might be interested, or have speaker suggestions, please contact Inés Leyba and Jasen Jacobsen, who are organizing this term's POA seminars. Also welcome are suggestions for non-OSU visiting speakers. POA discipline seminar funds are available to provide partial travel support for external visitors if needed.
Zoom connection information for these seminars throughout the fall term.
- January 27 – Inés Leyba, Calibration of a Wind–Drift Model and Boundary-Layer Wind Variability along the California Coast
Abstract: Two studies motivated by observations from the Sub‑Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) are presented in this seminar. S-MODE is a multi-instrument, multi-platform field campaign designed to investigate submesoscale ocean dynamics and their role in air–sea interaction and vertical transport offshore of the California Coast.
The first study tests and calibrates a recently proposed model for the near-surface wind and wave drift current in a homogeneous, equilibrium sea using a unique combination of remote-sensing and in situ velocity observations collected during the three S-MODE field campaigns. Five wind-drift model parameterizations are evaluated against multi-platform measurements of near-surface currents and vertical shear. The adjusted parameterizations substantially reduce bias in both drift magnitude and direction, bringing modeled vertical shear and shallow-layer drift into closer agreement with observations.
The second study focuses on coastal low-level jets observed during the second intensive operations period of S-MODE, using radiosonde measurements along the California coast. These observations show frequent jet occurrences, with jet cores typically located near the top of the marine atmospheric boundary layer. Clustering of the observed jets by core height and intensity helps organize case‑to‑case variability and reveals consistent differences in vertical structure and temporal evolution across events.
- February 3 – Roger Samelson, Stokes drift and wind drift in a rotating equilibrium sea
- February 10 – Alan Gaul
- February 17 – TBD
- February 24 – No seminar: Ocean Sciences Meeting
- March 3 – Nick Siler
- March 10 – Speakers TBD, Tribute to Roland de Szoeke