BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:EventsCalendar PRODID:-//hacksw/handcal//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York LAST-MODIFIED:20240422T053451Z TZURL:https://www.tzurl.org/zoneinfo-outlook/America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT CATEGORIES:College of Arts and Sciences,College of Engineering,SMAST,Thesis /Dissertations DESCRIPTION:Department of Fisheries Oceanography MS Thesis Defense "Thermod ynamical Drivers of Regional Warming in the Northeastern United States" By : Adriano Giangiardi Advisor Dr. Changsheng Chen (UMass Dartmouth) Committ ee Members Dr. Geoffrey Cowles (UMass Dartmouth), Dr. Siqi Li (UMass Dartm outh), and Dr. Lu Wang (UMass Dartmouth) Monday August 10, 2026 2:00 PM SM AST East 101-103 836 S. Rodney French Blvd, New Bedford and via Zoom Abstr act: The Gulf of Maine (GoM) is among the fastest-warming regions in the g lobal ocean, with an observed basin-wide warming rate of approximately 0.0 5°C per year, substantially exceeding the global upper-ocean average. Alt hough this accelerated warming has been well documented, the relative cont ributions of local atmospheric forcing and remote ocean heat transport hav e not been quantitatively determined. This thesis addresses this knowledge using the Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System (NECOFS) hindcast datas et. Atmospheric and oceanic fields from the NECOFS hindcast were used to c onstruct a volume-integrated heat budget model for the GoM, enabling the r elative contributions of surface air-sea heat fluxes and lateral heat tran sport to be quantified. The hindcast was first evaluated against observati ons of near-surface atmospheric variables, ocean currents, seawater temper ature, and sea surface elevation, demonstrating good agreement across all evaluated variables. The heat budget was decomposed into local thermodynam ic forcing (air-sea heat flux) and remote advective transport (lateral hea t transport through the GoM boundaries). Comparisons between two represent ative periods (1995-2001 and 2017-2023) show that changes in heat transpor t account for approximately 93% of the increase in the basin heat budget, whereas enhanced local atmospheric heating contributes only about 7%. Furt her decomposition of the advective term reveals a substantial reorganizati on of the primary heat transport pathways. The dominant inflow shifted fro m the Scotian Shelf during 1995-2001 to the southwestern side of the North east Channel during 2017-2023, while the contribution from the Northeast C hannel itself declined markedly. At the same time, reduced outflow through the Middle Atlantic Bight likely increased the residence time of warm wat er within the basin, further enhancing regional warming. River heat input remained negligible throughout both periods. These results demonstrate tha t the recent acceleration of warming in the GoM is controlled primarily by changes in regional ocean circulation rather than by increased local atmo spheric heating. The study provides a quantitative framework for distingui shing the relative roles of atmospheric forcing and oceanic heat transport in regional climate change and offers new insight into the physical mecha nisms responsible for long-term warming in the northeastern U.S. shelf eco system. Join Meeting https://umassd.zoom.us/j/98165845430 Note: Meeting ID and passcode required, email contact to obtain. For additional informatio n, please contact Callie Rumbut at c.rumbut@umassd.edu\nEvent page: https: //www.umassd.edu/events/cms/8-10-26-thermodynamical-drivers-of-regional-wa rming.php\nEvent link: https://umassd.zoom.us/j/98165845430 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Department of Fisheries Oceanog raphy

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MS Thesis Defense

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"Thermodynamical Drivers of Region al Warming in the Northeastern United States"

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By: Adriano Giangiar di

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Advisor

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Dr. Changsheng Chen (UMass Dartmouth)

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C ommittee Members

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Dr. Geoffrey Cowles (UMass Dartmouth)\, Dr. Siqi Li (UMass Dartmouth)\, and Dr. Lu Wang (UMass Dartmouth)

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Monday Au gust 10\, 2026

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2:00 PM

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SMAST East 101-103

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836 S. R odney French Blvd\, New Bedford

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and via Zoom

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Abstract:

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The Gulf of Maine (GoM) is among the fastest-warming regions in the g lobal ocean\, with an observed basin-wide warming rate of approximately 0. 05°C per year\, substantially exceeding the global upper-ocean average. A lthough this accelerated warming has been well documented\, the relative c ontributions of local atmospheric forcing and remote ocean heat transport have not been quantitatively determined. This thesis addresses this knowle dge using the Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System (NECOFS) hindcast da taset. Atmospheric and oceanic fields from the NECOFS hindcast were used t o construct a volume-integrated heat budget model for the GoM\, enabling t he relative contributions of surface air-sea heat fluxes and lateral heat transport to be quantified. The hindcast was first evaluated against obser vations of near-surface atmospheric variables\, ocean currents\, seawater temperature\, and sea surface elevation\, demonstrating good agreement acr oss all evaluated variables. The heat budget was decomposed into local the rmodynamic forcing (air-sea heat flux) and remote advective transport (lat eral heat transport through the GoM boundaries). Comparisons between two r epresentative periods (1995-2001 and 2017-2023) show that changes in heat transport account for approximately 93% of the increase in the basin heat budget\, whereas enhanced local atmospheric heating contributes only about 7%. Further decomposition of the advective term reveals a substantial reo rganization of the primary heat transport pathways. The dominant inflow sh ifted from the Scotian Shelf during 1995-2001 to the southwestern side of the Northeast Channel during 2017-2023\, while the contribution from the N ortheast Channel itself declined markedly. At the same time\, reduced outf low through the Middle Atlantic Bight likely increased the residence time of warm water within the basin\, further enhancing regional warming. River heat input remained negligible throughout both periods.

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These res ults demonstrate that the recent acceleration of warming in the GoM is con trolled primarily by changes in regional ocean circulation rather than by increased local atmospheric heating. The study provides a quantitative fra mework for distinguishing the relative roles of atmospheric forcing and oc eanic heat transport in regional climate change and offers new insight int o the physical mechanisms responsible for long-term warming in the northea stern U.S. shelf ecosystem.

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Join Meeting

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https://umassd.zo om.us/j/98165845430

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Note: Meeting ID and passcode required\, email contact to obtain.

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For additional information\, please contact Ca llie Rumbut at c.rumbut@umassd.edu

Event page: https://www.umassd.edu/events/cms/8-10-26-thermodynamical-drivers-of- regional-warming.php
Event link: https://umassd.zoom.us/j/98165845430

DTSTAMP:20260716T150023 DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260810T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260810T150000 LOCATION:SMAST East 101-103 SUMMARY;LANGUAGE=en-us:Thermodynamical Drivers of Regional Warming in the N ortheastern United States UID:829f7cee420e3c75339ed7f5cc60438a@www.umassd.edu END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR