VIGRE seminar, fall 1999:
Modeling Algae Blooms in the Oceans
- Instructors
-
Jay Walton,
David Dobson,
Jeff Morgan,
Patrick Wilber
- Students enrolled
-
Kimberly Borgelt,
Vincent Lemoine,
Amy Neff
(undergraduate mathematics students);
David Arnold,
Eric Bahuaud,
Guido David,
Cesar Garcia,
Adam Harbaugh,
Quoc Le Gia,
Damali Moore,
Haewon Nam,
Lovas Randrianarivony,
Conrad Yang,
David Zeigler
(graduate mathematics students)
- Description
-
The general topic involved Biological Oceanography with
the main problem, suggested by George Jackson from the
Oceanography Department, being to model the spring
algae bloom in certain temperate parts of the ocean.
The algae bloom is a major factor in removing
CO2 from the atmosphere. The students were
divided into teams that then did extensive research on
existing models of the spring bloom type phenomena. At
the same time, the instructors gave lectures on
dynamical systems theory and techniques plus biological
modeling approaches that would be of use. Students and
faculty had access to actual data from two long term
field studies off the coast of Bermuda and Hawaii.
However, the data was dirty and no substantial results
were obtained. The general modeling discussions and the
difficulties in dealing with dirty data was in itself a
learning experience for all involved.