Associate Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences /College of Engineering
arbic@umich.edu
Office Information:
Earth & Environmental Sciences
3020 C. C. Little
Ann Arbor MI 48109-1005
phone: 734.615.4941
African Studies Center;
ASC Faculty
Education/Degree:
PhD, Physical Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program, 2000
BS, Mathematics and Physics, University of Michigan, 1988
About
Brian Arbic is a physical oceanographer. He is primarily interested in the dynamics and energy budgets of oceanic mesoscale eddies (the oceanic equivalent of atmospheric weather systems), the large-scale oceanic general circulation, and tides. He have studied paleotides, tsunamis, and the decadal variability of subsurface ocean temperatures and salinities. His primary tools are numerical models of the ocean using both realistic models, such as the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) being used as a U.S. Navy ocean forecast model, and idealized models. He frequently compares the outputs of such models to oceanic observations, taken with a variety of instruments. Brian’s research has often been interdisciplinary, involving collaborations with scientists outside of his discipline, such as glaciologists, geodynamicists, and marine geophysicists.