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Dr. Yonggang Liu currently serves as the Director of the Ocean Circulation Lab at USF College of Marine Science. He is a physical oceanographer, aiming to better understand the ocean circulation on the West Florida Shelf, including the interactions/exchanges of water properties between the estuaries, the shelf, and the offshore (Loop Current) system of the Gulf of Mexico. He uses both in situ observations and numerical models in coastal ocean research, and he is interested in applying physical oceanography to marine environmental issues, such as wastewater plume modeling, oil spill tracking and Karenia brevis red tide predictions. He also develops and applies novel data analysis methods in meteorology and oceanography. Dr. Liu serves as an Associate Editor for AMS Journal Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems, and a Guest Editor for Elsevier Journal Deep-Sea Research II. He previously served as an Oversight Editor of AGU Geophysical Monograph Series and was on AGU Book Board Committee. He is presently on SECOORA Science Committee and SECOORA SOCAN Stakeholder Committee.

We seek motivated graduate students to join us & work on the exciting projects.

• Publications, also on Google Scholar, ORCID, Scopus, Web of Science, and ResearchGate.

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Red tide research:

• Short-term tracking of Karenia brevis red tide trajectory
• Seasonal prediction of major Karenia brevis red tide occurence on the West Florida Shelf

Numerical modeling:

Tampa Bay Coastal Ocean Model (TBCOM) applications: · Piney Point effluent plume forecast · Bishop Harbor stormwater plume forecast West Florida Coastal Ocean Circulation Model (WFCOM) applications: Coastal sea level response to Hrricane Ian Deepwater Horizon oil spill trajectory simulation: combining models with satellite imagery Columbia River estuary-plume-shelf circulation simulation

Data analysis methods & applications:

• Dual Self-Organizing Map analysis & joint SOM-wavelet analysis (Dual-SOM)
• A skill score for trajectory model evaluation using drifter data
• Rectified wavelet power spectrum analysis
• Self-Organizing Map (SOM): evaluation & applications

Continental shelf circulation and dynamics:

• Seasonal variation of the currents on the West Florida Shelf
• Mean circulation on the West Florida Shelf from long-term moorings
• Sea surface height estimated across the West Florida Shelf in consideration of dominant coastal ocean dynamics
• Momentum balance on the West Florida Shelf

Gulf of Mexico Loop Current products (updated daily):

• Altimetry-derived surface geostrophic currents in the Gulf of Mexico (recent 30 days)
• Global HYCOM simulated surface currents (daily averaged) in the Gulf of Mexico (recent 4 days + forecast)
• Global OPAF simulated surface currents (daily averaged) in the Gulf of Mexico (recent 4 days + forecast)
• NOAA simulated winds for the Gulf of Mexico region (NAM product, recent 2 days + forecast)

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Last updated on 4/22/2022