📣 Zappa Lab participates in NEW @UofNH publication! 🌊 Learn about how velocity gradients and turbulence shape energy exchange at the air–sea interface in the @SpringerNature Experiments in Fluids paper: “Thermal marking measurements of horizontal velocity gradients, turbulent kinetic energy, and its dissipation rate at an undulating wind ruffled air-water interface.” Using thermal marking velocimetry, this study captures surface velocity fields across a wavy interface to quantify strain, vorticity, turbulent kinetic energy, and its dissipation. The work also links surface convergence/divergence to vortex dynamics—advancing how we measure and understand air–sea energy fluxes. Read the study➡️doi.org/10.1007/s00348-026-0… This research is supported by @NSF and @USNavyResearch. Lead author Shantanu Soumya is a PhD student @UofNH, he is a member of the Coupled Air-Sea Surface Layers Laboratory. Prof. Nathan Laxague is an Assistant Professor @UofNH, he is the Principal Investigator of the Coupled Air-Sea Surface Layers Laboratory. Nathan was a Postdoctoral Research Scientist @LamontEarth in the Zappa Lab. Dr. Ivan Savelyev is a Research Physicist @USNRL. @LamontEarth ⁩@columbiaclimate @Columbia @ColumbiaScience @USNavyResearch #AirSeaObs #AirSeaInterface #OceanScience #FluidDynamics #TurbulentKineticEnergy

Postdoctoral Research Scientist Carson Witte and DEES graduate student Jerry (Junzhe) Liu will be presenting at the 106th @ametsoc Conference next Wednesday! Carson will present state-of-the-art Lagrangian observations of temperature and turbulence profiles in large-amplitude Diurnal Warm Layers (DWLs). This research compares observations to a hierarchy of upper ocean models, identifying specific failure points and proposing physically-motivated modifications to current model physics. The presentation starts at 4:45 PM on Jan 28 in 310B (George R. Brown Convention Center). More details ➡️ams.confex.com/ams/106ANNUAL… This research is supported by @NSF and @SchmidtOcean. #AMS2026 #AirSeaObs #DiurnalWarmLayers #airseaflux #seasurfacetempreture #climatemodel #oceanmodel #Oceanography #Research #Science @LamontEarth ⁩@columbiaclimate @Columbia @ColumbiaScience

Introducing Zappa Lab's Air–Sea Interaction Tower (ASIT) work! From Oct 2019–Feb 2020, we deployed a suite of meteorological, optical, and oceanographic instruments on ASIT off the south coast of Martha’s Vineyard to observe air–sea coupling during the stormy North Atlantic winter.

Instruments measured turbulence above, at, and below the air–sea interface: sonic anemometers captured wind profiles and fluctuations, LiDAR altimeters measured sea surface elevation, cameras captured wave breaking, and acoustic doppler current profilers profiled turbulent flow from just below the surface to 19 m depth.