Jeff Carpenter receives prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant

The European Research Council (ERC) has selected Dr Jeffrey Carpenter's project proposal FOXSTORM for funding of up to 2.35 million Euro over 5 years. Carpenter will be awarded the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant. The researcher from the Institute for Coastal Systems - Analysis and Modeling at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon will use his new project FOXSTORM to better explore gaps in knowledge about the effects of storms.

In the wake of climate change, extreme storms are becoming more frequent and more violent. But how they affect ocean mixing is largely unexplored. Carpenter wants to change that. He is one of 321 successful applicants out of more than2200 competitors who applied for the grant.

FOXSTORM decodes turbulence

Dr Jeffrey Carpenter (right) with a autonomous underwater glider. Photo: Thomas Wasilewski

As part of the FOXSTORM project, Carpenter and his team hope to explore the links between extreme storms and ocean mixing. The turbulence that occurs in the ocean during extreme storms affects water temperature and, in turn, the intensity of the storms. Until now, it has not been possible to measure turbulence during extreme storms. There was simply no technology to do so. With the autonomous underwater gliders, Jeffrey Carpenter has paved the way for his FOXSTORM research project.

The ERC uses Consolidator Grants to fund talent in science whose previous work suggests further excellence. "I'm excited about the unique opportunity the ERC provides to find answers to some of the biggest scientific questions," Carpenter says.

Background

Extreme storms like hurricanes and typhoons are empowered by warm sea surface temperatures. But the strong winds also create turbulence in the ocean, stirring up colder water from deeper ocean layers. This mixing cools the ocean surface, which "slows" the storms. Understanding and quantifying this feedback between extreme storm strength and ocean turbulent mixing is the focus of FOXSTORM. Direct measurements of the ocean turbulence that causes this feedback have been too dangerous, requiring research vessels. FOXSTORM now proposes to use autonomous ocean vehicles to make these measurements under extreme storms.