My journey in marine science began in the picturesque Pearl River Estuary (PRE) in Guangdong, China. Driven by a desire to comprehend the complex dynamics of tidal energy transportation and dissipation in the PRE, I delved deep into my research, examining the impact of human activities over the past 50 years. Upon moving to California, I redirected my focus to the captivating San Francisco Bay, where I immersed myself in the wonders of its marine environment. Enthralled by the enigmatic allure of the vast open ocean, I expanded my research interests to study the intriguing phenomenon of internal tides in the deep sea.

Submesoscale dynamics observed from SWOT and S-MODE

Graduate Research Assistant, University of Washington, Applied Physics Laboratory (Seattle, WA, USA. Janunary 2024 - Present)

  • Advisors: Eric D’Asaro
  • Aim to answer the questions: “Why there is a front there?” “Where does the fresh water come?”, and “Why there is a compensation of horizontal temperature and salinity gradients?”
  • Map mesoscale temperature and salinity field from the NAVO floats, NAVO Glider and Seagliders from the Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE)
  • Compare the velocity field from remote sensing product (SWOT) with the in situ measurement from S-MDOE

Internal tide variability off Central California

Graduate Research Assistant, University of Washington, Applied Physics Laboratory (Seattle, WA, USA. March 2021 - Janunary 2024)

  • Advisors: Zhongxiang Zhao and Eric D’Asaro
  • Two moorings deployed for 75 days in 2019 and long-term satellite altimetry data reveal a spatially complex and temporally variable internal tidal field at the SWOT Cal/Val site off central California due to the interference of multiple seasonally-variable sources.
  • Temporal and spatial variations of semidiurnal internal tides are observed using in situ moorings and satellite altimetry. Complex internal tide field is caused by multiple generation sources, seasonal stratification, and likely mesoscale eddies. The three generation sources of mode-1 M$_2$ internal tides are subject to strong but different seasonalities
  • Cai, T., Zhao, Z., D’Asaro, E., Wang, J., & Fu, L. L. (2024). Internal tide variability off Central California: multiple sources, seasonality, and eddying background. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 129(8), e2024JC020892. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JC020892.
Figure 1 from Cai et al. (2024). Study region in the California Current System (CCS). Bathymetry is mapped using data from GEBCO, with key topographic features labeled. Two moorings deployed during the SWOT pre-launch campaign 2019 are labeled in cyan (the north mooring) and yellow (the south mooring). Major sources of mode-1 (red) and mode-2 (purple) M2 internal tides in this region are marked as curved arrows, based on the 27-year-coherent satellite altimetry model. The figure in the left of an orange box is the zoom-in view of the two moorings 30 km apart.

Sediment erosion and computational fluid dynamics

Independent Research Assistant, Stanford University (Stanford, CA, USA. June 2020 - September 2020)

  • Advisor: Oliver Fringer
  • Reviewed literature on both the empirical and numerical methods of incipient motion for granular material transport with turbulent channel flows. Established a more concrete understanding of the hydrodynamics of particle‑laden flows by evaluating previous Eulerian‑Lagrangian (EL) studies on fluid‑particle and particle‑particle interactions
  • Visualized the fluid‑particle interaction by conducting a two‑dimensional particle‑resolved simulation using the Immersed Boundary method in MATLAB

Tidal energy flux propagation in the Pearl River estuary

Undergraduate Research Assistant, Sun Yat‑sen University (Guangzhou, China. February 2018 - July 2019)

  • Advisor: Huayang Cai
  • Analyzed how changes of the Pearl River estuary terrain influenced Lingding Channel’ s tide energy transport and dissipation in recent 50 years using MATLAB and one‑dimensional analytical model for tidal hydrodynamics in an infinitely long channel
  • Conducted the research in the context of global sea level rise and high intensity human activities, aiming to offer scientific grounding and explanations for issues regarding relevant coast ecosystems, saline water encroachment, and waterway dredging
(Left) Study region. (Middle) Topographic setting of sensitivity analysis. (Right) Tidal energy transport and dissipation in recent 50 years.

Fishery resources of the Southern East China Sea in historic periods

Undergraduate Research Assistant, Sun Yat‑sen University (Guangzhou, China. March 2017 - April 2018)

  • Advisors: Yunzhen Chen
  • Retrieved information of fishery covered in Hai Cuo Tu, a marine creatures painting collection completed in Qing dynasty, including the ancient name, scientific name, origin, size, flood season, and economic value
  • Compared the information retrieved with contemporary fishery resources in southern East China Sea, analyzing the differences and exploring possible causes based on relevant literature
Hai Cuo Tu, by Huang Nie, Qing Dynasty. Credit: https://www.npm.gov.tw/

Regulations for time‑space distribution and environmental impact factors of small plankton communities (College Student Innovative Training Project)

Independent Research Assistant, Sun Yat‑sen University （Guangzhou, China. March 2016 - September 2017)

  • Advisors: Jinpeng Yang
  • Attempted to uncover the coupling relationship between the time‑space distribution and environmental impact factors of the Pearl River estuary, aiming to provide environmental monitoring and protection
  • Conducted ten effective samplings in three monitoring spots established along the north coast of Qinglv Road in Zhuhai City, processing data of such categories as temperature, salinity, pH value, concentration of chlorophyll, and organism abundance
(Left) Study region. (Right) Time series of abundance of different orders of ciliates and dinoflagellates in July 2016 - June 2017.

Ongoing and future work

I’m currently actively working on several projects, and some others are still in the ideation phase. If any of these projects sound interesting to you or if you’re conducting similar research, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I would be thrilled to collaborate with you!

  • submesoscale dynamics and frontogenesis
  • internal tides in the Arctic region
  • seasonal variations of internal tides in the changing climate
  • interaction between internal tides and mesoscale eddies and currents