Imperial mathematicians win €10 million ERC grant to study ocean dynamics

Two Imperial mathematicians have won a €10 million European Research Council grant to study how oceans are responding to climate change. The researchers, from the Department of Mathematics, will use high-resolution satellite images and computer simulations to better understand the dynamics of the upper ocean. The highly prestigious ERC Synergy Grant will see them partner with two leading French institutions. The grants are awarded to groups of two to four excellent 'principal investigators'. The ocean has absorbed 93% of the heat trapped by humanity's greenhouse gas emissions and how it responds to continued warming is uncertain. The project could help improve scientific understanding for tracking oil spills and marine debris, and plastic accumulation in the sea. The researchers say it will also provide decision makers with a means of quantifying the effects of local patterns of sea level rise, heat uptake, carbon storage and change of oxygen content and pH in the ocean.