Dr Chris Wilson | National Oceanography Centre

Contact details

Group:

Marine Physics and Ocean Climate

Site:

Liverpool

Email:

cwi at noc.ac.uk

Profile

Biography

Research interests

I am interested in ocean dynamics in general, which covers a broad spectrum of phenomena, but the machinery that help us to understand 'how the ocean moves' is essentially based on mathematics and physics. Newton's Laws of Motion (especially Newton's 2nd law: force=mass x acceleration), applied to a fluid given us further equations of increasing complexity, depending on whether the fluid has small-scale friction, has spatially-varying density or is in a rotating frame of reference, like Earth's oceans.

Sometimes it is more appropriate to extract simplified descriptions of the ocean dynamics than it is to solve problems at a high degree of complexity - after all, greater complexity does not necessarily guarantee greater realism. Seeking the most simple, yet realistic (close to observations) description of ocean dynamics for a particular question is what motivates all of my research.

My specialist interests are:

Ocean transport and mixing - both in terms of the kinematics of flow deformation and the generation of coherent flow structures (eddies/vortices/saddles) and the dynamics (how these structures evolve subject to the physical equations of motion for the fluid).

The representation of eddies in the ocean component of climate models - eddy parameterisation, the effect of eddies on larger and smaller scales and therefore on long-term climate predictability and short-term forecasting.

Representation of the climate as a dynamical system - a commonly used layer of abstraction that is helpful for understanding complexity, predictability, chaos and the role of nonlinear dynamics (usually involving waves, turbulence or eddies).

Research profile and statistics

ORCID profile: (click here)

ResearcherID/Publons profile: (click here)

Google Scholar: (click here)

Roles

Physical Oceanographer (Senior Scientific Officer since 2011)

Honorary Research Fellow, University of Liverpool, School of Environmental Sciences (since 2006)

Committees

UKRI/NERC Peer Review College Member 2017-2023
Co-chair of international NEMO Working Group on Eddy Closures
Reviewer for IPCC AR6 WG1

Projects

Current projects

Shelf-enabled Global Modelling - Workpackage of CLASS National Capability Programme - leading/coordinating sea-level modelling development within NOC

Re-energising Arrested Nonlinear Dynamics in Ocean Models (RANDOM) - Stochastic Eddy Parameterisation - PI

Selected previous projects

The UK Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (UK-OSNAP) (OSNAP) - NERC Large Grant - Co-I

Advective Pathways of nutrients and key Ecological substances in the ARctic (APEAR) - NERC Standard Grant - Researcher Co-I

MESoscale Ocean eddies and Climate Predictions (MESO-CLIP) - NERC Standard Grant - Co-I

The Structure and Stability of Transport and Mixing Barriers within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current - NERC New Investigator Grant - sole PI

PDRAs

Neill Mackay : OSNAP, 2014-2018

Students

Ollie Tooth : D.Phil., U. Oxford, 2020- (co-supervised with Helen Johnson)

Robert Fraser : D.Phil., U. Oxford, 2015-2018 (co-supervised with Laure Zanna and Matthew Palmer), "Interannual North Atlantic Sea Surface Height Dynamics and Associated Predictability"

Selected Measures of Impact/Esteem

- 2016 Editors’ Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for Geophysical Research Letters.

- NERC Impact Awards 2015 - Runner-up in the Societal Impact category.

- Invited speaker and co-chair of session, “The North Atlantic: natural variability and global change” at European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Apr. 2017, Vienna. Title: “Gulf Stream transport and mixing processes via coherent structure dynamics”

- Invited seminars: GEOMAR, Kiel, 2017; Imperial College, London, 2018; U. Oxford, 2020.

- Science Museum, London – contribution, including video interview, to permanent exhibition on ocean modelling in the new Mathematics Gallery, showing Dec. 2016 – present.

- Honorary Research Fellow, School of Environmental Sciences, Uni. Liverpool, 2006 - present.

- Member of SWOT (Surface Water, Ocean Topography satellite) Science Team, Apr. 2016 – present.

- Guest Editor of Ocean Dynamics, 2015.

- Associate editor of the Journal of Operational Oceanography, 2008-2014.

- External examiner for Ph.D. of Erik Mackie, U. Bristol, 2019.

- External examiner for D.Phil. of Sarka Tukova, U. Oxford, 2011.

- Reviewer for J. Fluid Mechanics, Geophysical Research Letters, J. Physical Oceanography, J. Climate, Ocean Modelling, J. Atmos. Sci., J. Geophysical Research, J. Oper. Oceanography., Progress in Oceanography, Scientific Reports, Ocean Dynamics.

- Book contributions: "The Story of the Scientists Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Our Oceans, Atmosphere, and Ice Sheets and Made the Planet Whole", Sarah Dry, 2019, U. Chicago Press. (Nature's "Top Ten Books of 2019"); "Ocean Dynamics and the Carbon Cycle: Principles and Mechanisms", Richard G. Williams and Michael J. Follows, 2011, Cambridge University Press.

Publications