English/Japanese

Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Fukui Prefectural University

Associate Professor / Physical Oceanographer

Yuki TANAKA

PROFILE
OFFICE ADDRESS
EDUCATION
Ph.D.Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, March 2010.
Thesis title: Evaluation of tidal mixing in the Kuril Straits and its impact on the formation of North Pacific Intermediate Water
Thesis supervisor: Professor Toshiyuki Hibiya
M.S.Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, March 2007.
B.S.Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, March 2005.

EMPLOYMENT
Apr 2020 - Present:Associate Professor, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Fukui Prefectural University, Fukui, Japan.
Apr 2012 - Mar 2020:Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Apr 2010 - Mar 2012:Postdoctoral Researcher, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan.
Apr 2008 - Mar 2010:Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

RESEARCH INTEREST

My main research interests are in meso- and small-scale processes in the ocean interior spanning a broad area from the open ocean to coastal seas, especially their generation and dissipation mechanisms and impacts on large-scale ocean circulation. I am exploring these issues through a combination of theory, numerical simulations, and observations. Specific research topics include:

  1. Turbulent mixing in the deep ocean
    • Dynamics of topographically trapped diurnal internal tides and associated bottom-intensified mixing in mid- to high-latitude regions such as the Kuril Straits connecting the Okhotsk Sea to the North Pacific Ocean
    • Theoretical formulation and global estimation of the energy conversion rate from subinertial surface tides to topographically trapped internal tides
    • Evaluation of the effects of diapycnal mixing on large-scale ocean circulation and global climate using ocean general circulation models and coupled climate models

  2. Mesoscale features in strong ocean currents
    • Dynamics of the Kuroshio path variation south of Japan, especially the transition from the nonlarge meander path to the large meander path due to baroclinic instability enhanced over a local seamount
    • A general stability condition of a flow over bottom topography derived using the pseudoenergy conservation law and its application to the large meander path of the Kuroshio
    • Generation mechanism of tropical instability waves in the equatorial Pacific Ocean in terms of resonant Rossby wave coupling and their decay mechanism due to internal wave radiation

PUBLICATIONS (REFEREED ARTICLE)
PRESENTATIONS