PI: Una Kim Miller
Assistant Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University


📬 umiller [at] cornell.edu

Research

  • Ventilation

    Dense Shelf Water formation

    In the marginal seas of Antarctica, polynyas (openings in the sea ice) form dense shelf waters that constitute Antarctica Bottom Water, a water mass that fills the lowest kilometer of the world's oceans and brings oxygen and anthropogenic carbon to the deep ocean. We use oceanographic moorings, satellites, and BGC-Argo floats to explore the formation of and variability in dense shelf water formation.
    See related papers in Nature Comm and
    Deep Sea Research II on the Terra Nova Bay Polynya.

  • Ventilation

    North Atlantic ventilation

    Deep convection in the Labrador Sea forms a cold, high-oxygenated water mass that fills the lower limb of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Una is involved in GOHSNAP , 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 to quantify the role of the Labrador Sea in ventilating the Atlantic Ocean interior.
    See related paper on oxygen optode calibration in Frontiers in Marine Science

  • Ventilation

    Boundary layer scaling

    Turbulent mixing redistributes heat, momentum, gas, and nutrients in the ocean, playing a key role in weather, climate, and biogeochemical cycling. However, turbulent mixing cannot be resolved by climate models, which instead rely on parameterizations. We are interested in testing the boundary layer scaling theory that underpins these parameterizations against measurements of turbulence made using finescale velocity measurements from moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers.
    See related paper in JGR Oceans and
    Deep Sea Research II .

Selected Publications



The central role of the Labrador Sea in North Atlantic ventilation
Miller, U.K. , J. Palter, E. Park, D. Atamanchuk, K. E. Fogaren, Y. Fu, J. Karstensen, J. Koelling, I. Le Bras, H., H. Nagao, D. P. Nicholson, H. Palevsky, M. Yoder (under review)

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

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

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