Una Kim Miller

Physical oceanographer

  • Air-sea interaction
  • Upper ocean turbulence
  • High-latitude oceans
  • Moorings & uncrewed systems

I am an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University. I recieved my Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University (working at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) and my B.S. in Oceanography from the University of Washington. Before I started at Cornell, I was a postdoc at the lovely University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.

📬 umiller [at] cornell.edu

🎺 I am currently looking to hire a graduate student to begin Fall 2026. If you are a motivated individual with a STEM background, at least a bit of coding experience, and an interest in physical oceanography, please reach out!

Research

Gases in the Overturning and Horizontal circulation of the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (GOHSNAP)

Deep convection in the Labrador Sea forms Labrador Sea Water (LSW), a water mass that fills the lower limb of AMOC. GOHSNAP is an ongoing effort to instrument the Overturning in the Sub-polar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP) mooring array in the Labrador and western Irminger Sea with oxygen sensors and quantify the role of LSW formation in ventilating the Atlantic Ocean interior.

High Salinity Shelf Water formation in the Terra Nova Bay Polynya


High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW) is formed in the coastal polynyas of Antarctica, openings in the wintertime sea ice coverage created by katabatic winds. HSSW is a precursor to Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) and thus, variability in the properties and production rates of HSSW within these polynyas can impact the strength of overturning. My work is based on a high-vertical-and-temporal-resolution dataset of temperature, salinity, current velocity, and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rate (ε) from a mooring in the Terra Nova Bay (TNB) Polynya deployed from 2017 - 2018. I am interested in all things HSSW: production rates, time scales, and variability, turbulent mixing, and propagation pathways.


Upper Ocean Turbulence Scaling



Surface ocean turbulence is key to the transfer of heat, gas, and other important properties between the ocean and atmosphere but cannot be resolved in climate models, which instead rely on classic boundary layer scaling (BLS). However, the applicability of classic BLS in the ocean boundary layer is complicated by the presence of waves and wave-induced Langmuir circulation. I'm interested in testing both classic and Langmuir-based BLS against measurements of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rate (ε) made using finescale velocity measurements from a moored pulse-coherent Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP).

Publications



2024

Oxygen optodes on oceanographic moorings: recommendations for deployment and in-situ calibration
Miller, U.K. , K. E. Fogaren, D. Atamanchuk, C. Johnson, J. Koelling, I. Le Bras, M. Lindeman, H., H. Nagao, D. P. Nicholson, H. Palevsky, E. Park, M. Yoder, J. Palter (2024) Link | PDF

The coupling of winds, ocean turbulence, and High Salinity Shelf Water in the Terra Nova Bay
Miller, U.K. , C.J. Zappa, A.L. Gordon, S.T. Yoon, C. Stevens, L. Cornelissen, S.K. Yun, W.S. Lee. (2024)
Deep Sea Research Part II Link | PDF

Ocean processes south of the Drygalski Ice Tongue, western Ross Sea
Stevens, C., S.T. Yoon, C.J. Zappa, U.K. Miller , X. Wang, F. Elliot, L. Cornelissen, C.K. Lee, S.K. Yun, W.S. Lee. (2024)
Deep Sea Research Part II Link

High Salinity Shelf Water production in Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea from high-resolution salinity observations
Miller, U.K. , C. J. Zappa, A. L. Gordon, S.T. Yoon, C. Stevens, W.S. Lee. (2024)
Nature Communications Link | PDF

2023

Scaling of moored surface ocean turbulence measurements in the Southeast Pacific Ocean
Miller, U.K. , C. J. Zappa, S. Zippel, J. T. Farrar, R. A. Weller. (2023).
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Link | PDF

2021

TKE Dissipation Rate Estimates from Pulse-Coherent ADCPs on Moorings
Zippel, S, J. T. Farrar, C. J. Zappa; U.K. Miller , L. St. Laurent, T. Ijichi, R. A. Weller; L. McRaven; D. Le Bel. (2021).
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology Link | PDF

2014 - 2018

Warming and inhibition of salinization at the ocean's surface by cyanobacteria
Wurl, O., K. Bird, M. Cunliffe, W. M. Landing, U.K. Miller , N. I. H. Mustaffa, et al. (2018).
Geophysical Research Letters Link | PDF

Analysis of bubble plume distributions to evaluate methane hydrate decomposition on the continental slope
Johnson, H. P., U.K. Miller , M. S. Salmi, E. A. Solomon, (2015).
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 16, 3825-3839. Link | PDF

Dissociation of Cascadia margin gas hydrates in response to contemporary ocean warming
Hautala, S. L., E. A. Solomon, H. P. Johnson, R. N. Harris, U.K. Miller (2014).
Geophysical Research Letters, 41, 8486-8494. Link | PDF