Elisa Lovecchio
Research interests
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Ocean physics and biogeochemistry
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Biophysical interactions, especially in meso and submesoscale structures
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Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUS)
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Modeling, algorithms development,
large data handling, data analysis
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In-situ data collection and analysis from ships and autonomous platforms
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Past, present and future climate
Projects
Current research at the National Oceanography Centre
Biogeochemical modeller @ NOC, UK
Funding: ERC, UKRI-NERC
Projects I am or have been involved in at NOC Southampton:
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PARTITRICS (2024-now): Synthesis and global scaling-up of particle transport and respiration processes in the mesopelagic.
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ReBELS Fieldwork (2024): Data collection at sea for the ReBELS project (Resolving Biological carbon Export in the Labrador Sea).
GOCART and COMICS (2021-2024): Study of mesopelagic oxygen and particle variability in the northern Benguela Upwelling using in-situ data from gliders, ship and satellite, model reanalysis and a new Benguela coupled model setup (see below).
SUMMER (2022-2024) Quantification of the export of DOC and POC via diapycnal mixing; comparison with active and sinking fluxes from ship data in South Georgia.
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TechOceanS (2023-2024) Scientific input for the planning of autonomous surveys with gliders and ALRs around the island of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Upwelling System.
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PAP-SO Fieldwork (2023): Data collection & analysis for the PAP Sustained Observatory
Group: Marine Biogeochemistry, within the Ocean BioGeosciences (OBG) group of NOC
Advisor: Prof Stephanie Henson
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For a full list of related publications and talks, please visit the dedicated page.
The influence of mesoscale variability on organic carbon export fluxes: bridging models and observations
2020-2021, Visiting Postdoc fellow @ NOCS, UK
SNSF Early Postdoc.Mobility
Study how mesoscale structures influence the export of organic material and oxygen concentrations in the Benguela Upwelling System. The study was developed by combining the use of glider data (GOCART project), ship data (COMICS project), satellite products, ocean reanalysis data and a new high resolution coupled physical-biogeochemical ocean model (ROMS + BEC) that I developed at NOC.
Advisor: Prof Stephanie Henson
Related publication: Lovecchio, E., Henson, S., Carvalho, F., & Briggs, N. (2022). "Oxygen variability in the offshore northern Benguela Upwelling System from glider data." JGR: Oceans, 127, e2022JC019063, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JC019063
Data: NetCDF median glider data collected in the Northern Benguela during February - June 2018. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.938221
Exploring the impact of changes in the biological pump on the shelf sea and ocean nutrient and redox state
2019, Postdoc fellow @ University of Exeter, UK
Funding: NERC
Implementation of a Biological Pump, Oxygen and Phosphorus (BPOP) model accounting for two organic matter species generated by production and coagulation and aimed at studying changes in the ocean biogeochemistry generated by the evolution of larger and heavier phytoplankton cells at the Neoproterozoic-Phanerozoic transition (language: Matlab).
Advisor: Prof Tim Lenton
Related publication: Lovecchio E., Lenton T. (2020) "BPOP-v1 model: exploring the impact of changes in the biological pump on the shelf sea and ocean nutrient and redox state" Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 1865–1883, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1865-2020
Long range offshore transport of organic carbon from the Canary Upwelling System, an eddy-resolving modeling study
2014-2018, PhD student @ ETH-Z, Switzerland
Funding: SNSF
Quantification of the total and mesoscale lateral transport of organic carbon from the coast of the Canary Upwelling System to the offshore North Atlantic gyre through the use of high-resolution simulations. Development of a new setup based on the coupled physical model ROMS and biogeochemical model NPZD run on a full Atlantic basin telescopic grid with refinement towards the north-western African coast. Identification of eddies and filament through the employment of eddy-detection algorithm and the development of a new filament-detection algorithm. Study of the evolution of the tracers in mesoscale eddies through the calculation of 3D composites of eddy tracks.
Supervisors: Prof Niki Gruber, Dr Matthias Muennich, Dr Zouhair Lachkar
Examiner: Prof Javier Arístegui
Related publications:
1) Lovecchio E., Gruber N., Münnich M., Lachkar Z. (2017) "On the long-range offshore transport of organic carbon from the Canary Upwelling System to the open North Atlantic" Biogeosciences, 14, 3337–3369, 2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3337-2017
2) Lovecchio E., Gruber N., Münnich M. (2018) "Mesoscale contribution to the long-range offshore transport of organic carbon from the Canary Upwelling System to the open North Atlantic" Biogeosciences, 15, 5061–5091, 2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5061-2018
3) Bonino, G., Lovecchio, E., Gruber, N., Münnich, M., Masina, S., & Iovino, D. (2021). Drivers and impact of the seasonal variability of the organic carbon offshore transport in the Canary upwelling system. Biogeosciences, 18(8), 2429-2448, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2429-2021
4) Lovecchio, E., Gruber, N., Münnich, M., & Frenger, I. (2022). On the processes sustaining biological production in the offshore propagating eddies of the northern Canary Upwelling System. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 127, e2021JC017691. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017691
Climate-vegetation interaction and the global hydrological cycle
2013, MSc student @ University of Turin, Italy
Modeling the mutual interaction between climate and vegetation. Implementation of a 1D and 2D Energy Balance Model (language: Fortran) including two layers of atmosphere, two layers of soil and one kind of vegetation and the equations governing the exchange of water and heat between these layers. Study of the equilibria reached by the system starting from dry surface condition and moist deep soil as a function of the initial vegetation cover and deep soil water content.
Supervisor: Prof Antonello Provenzale
From self-organized to extended criticality
2011, Research Associate @ University of North Texas, USA
Implementation of a network of cooperative integrate-and-fire neurons (language: C).
Simulation of neural avalanches and study the statistics of the neural network activity to explore the issue of criticality and self-organization of complex networks.
Advisor: Prof Paolo Grigolini
Related publication: Lovecchio E., Allegrini P., Geneston E., West B.J. and Grigolini P. (2012) "From self-organized to extended criticality" Front. Physio. 3:98. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2012.00098
