Physical Oceanography

Department of Physical Oceanography

The physical oceanography department includes three researchers (one emeritus), several graduate students, and four research assistants. The department is leading various ongoing research studies of the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba), the Suez Canal, and more. Specifically, we focus on dynamics of convectively driven marginal seas, sea strait physics, sub-mesoscale processes, coastal-open ocean interactions, density currents, open ocean convection, air-sea interactions, connectivity between marine protected areas, dynamics of submarine canyons, and more. The department operates several facilities, including three marine gliders, coastal and deep-sea Mateo-marine monitoring stations, measurement infrastructure on the RV ‘Bat Galim’, an early-warning Tsunami detection system, a marine data center, sea state forecast models, and an oil spill detection system (near real-time tracking and forecast distribution).