Professor Moninya Roughan

Research Interests

• The dynamics of the East Australian Current System, Australia's western boundary current
• Cross shelf processes,  upwelling and nutrient enrichment, advection, entrainment and shelf export
• Ocean warming trends and marine extremes (marine heatwaves and cold spells)
• Dynamics of fronts and eddies (including small scales) in a western boundary current
• Connectivity of organisms, transport and particle dispersion and the impacts of climate change
• Numerical modelling of the coastal ocean including data assimilation and ocean prediction
• Traditional Indigenous knowledge and the intersection with Oceanography 

Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System- IMOS

Since 2008 I have led the oceanography component of NSW- IMOS, Australia's ocean observing programme, along the coast of southeastern Australia.  I also lead the regional modelling effort in the East Australian Current (EAC).  The primary goal of our team is to make a major contribution to understanding our coastal oceans. We use a combination of oceanographic observations (in-situ, autonomous and remote sensed observations) and numerical models to understand the dynamics of the EAC System and the impact on biological productivity.  We use diverse observational platforms such as current meter and temperature moorings, autonomous underwater gliders, profiling CTDs, HF coastal radar, drifters and boat based measurements. We analyse the data in combination with numerical models to explain fundamental coastal ocean physical dynamics, and to gain an integrated, quantitative understanding of their impacts on coastal ocean bio-geo-chemical processes. Increasingly we are investigating model-data assimilation and predictability in the EAC.