Rui M. Ponte

Dr. Ponte’s broad and multidisciplinary research interests have led him to study, among other topics: the dynamics and forcing of sea level variability and change; the general circulation of the ocean and atmosphere, using the angular momentum approach; the effects of the ocean on the Earth’s rotation and gravity field; the high-frequency oceanic response to atmospheric forcing; the oceanic meridional overturning circulation; and use of satellites to improve knowledge about the state of the ocean-atmosphere system. He has done extensive work on modeling and interpretation of sea level and ocean bottom pressure signals and is currently a member of various NASA satellite mission science teams (Ocean Surface Topography, GRACE, Ocean Surface Salinity) and the GODAE OceanView Science Team. He has been a member of various special working groups (IAU/IUGG Working Group on Non-Rigid Earth Nutation Theory, IAG Special Study Group on Interactions of the Earth’s Rotational Dynamics with the Oceans and Atmospheres) and the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems (IERS) Special Bureau for the Ocean. His current research includes global ocean modeling and data assimilation efforts as part of Estimating the Circulation & Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) consortium, as well as using ensemble methods for regional ocean analysis and prediction. Dr. Ponte’s work is summarized in close to 90 papers in the refereed literature. Dr. Ponte has been at AER since 1989. He holds a BS degree in Physics from the University of Rhode Island, an MS degree in Oceanography from MIT, and a PhD in Physical Oceanography from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.