CARL WUNSCH

Carl Wunsch

Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physical Oceanography, Emeritus

Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 54-1426
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307
U.S.A.

  • phone: (617) 253-5937
  • FAX: (617) 253-4464 
  • email: carl.wunsch a t gmail.com


    Also, Visiting Professor of Physical Oceanography and Climate

    Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
    Harvard University
    Geological Museum, Room 451
    Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
    U.S.A.

  • phone: (617) 496-0194

  • email: carl.wunsch a t gmail.com

    ECCO - Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean

    C. Wunsch CV and Complete Publication List (pdf)

    Inverse Methods, Inverse Problems, State Estimation, and Data Assimilation: 5 Lectures at Harvard January 2013 (pdf)

    Class Notes: The Ocean and Climate (pdf)

    A Conversation with Walter Munk (On His 100th Birthday) Annual Revs. Mar. Sci. (video link)

    KNOWN ERRORS in "Discrete Inverse and State Estimation Problems" (pdf)

    A comprehensive critique of the Great Global Warming Swindle

    www.ofcomswindlecomplaint.net/

    www.ofcomswindlecomplaint.net/About/QandA.htm

    London Channel 4 TV film "The Great Global Warming Swindle"

    MISCELLANEOUS, (MAINLY) RECENT PAPERS, BOOKS. Incomplete. cv (at link above) is more up to date and complete
  • Wunsch, C., 1971, Note on some Reynolds stress effects of internal waves on slopes (pdf)
  • Munk, W. and C. Wunsch, 1979, Ocean acoustic tomography: A scheme for large-scale monitoring (pdf)
  • Book: Warren, B. A. and C. Wunsch, 1981, Evolution of Physical Oceanography, Scientific Surveys in Honor of Henry Stommel (pdf)
  • A Celebration in Geophysics and Oceanography 1982; In Honor of Walter Munk on his 65th birthday, October 19, 1982. C. Garrett, C. Wunsch, Eds."(pdf--36.5MB)
  • Book: Oceanographic and Geophysical Tomography, 1990. Y. Desaubies, A. Tarantola and J. Zinn-Justin, Eds. (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., D. Haidvogel, M. Isandarani, R. Hughes, 1997. Dynamics of the long-period tides (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 1997, The Vertical Partition of Oceanic Horizontal Kinetic Energy (pdf)
  • Munk W. and Wunsch, C., 1998, Abyssal Recipes-II: Energetics of Tidal and Wind Mixing (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C. and D. Stammer, 1998, Satellite altimetry, the marine geoid, and the oceanic general circulation (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 1998, The work done by the wind on the oceanic general circulation (pdf)
  • Stammer, D. and C. Wunsch, 1999.Temporal changes in eddy energy of the deep ocean(pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 1999, The Interpretation of Short Climate Records, With Comments on the North Atlantic and Southern Oscillations (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 1999, Where do eddy heat fluxes matter? (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 2000, On sharp spectral lines in the climate record and the millennial peak (pdf)
  • A. Ganachaud and Wunsch, C., 2000, Improved estimates of global ocean circulation, heat transport and mixing from hydrographic data (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 2000, Moon, tides and climate. Nature (pdf)
  • A. Ganachaud, C. Wunsch, J. Marotzke, J. Toole, 2000, Meridional overturning and large-scale circulation of the Indian Ocean, JGR. (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 2001, Global problems and global observations (in Siedler et al.) (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 2002, What is the Thermohaline Circulation ? Science (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 2002, Ocean age and transient tracers: Analytical and numerical solutions, J. Geophys. Res., (pdf)
  • A. Ganachaud and C. Wunsch,, 2002, Oceanic nutrient and oxygen transports and bounds on export production during the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (pdf)
  • X. Zang, L.-L. Fu and C. Wunsch, 2002, Observed reflectivity of the western boundary of the equatorial Pacific Ocean (pdf)
  • D. Stammer et al., 2002, Global Ocean Circulation During 1992-1997, Estimated from Ocean Observations and a General Circulation Model (pdf)
  • D. Stammer et al., 2002,Volume, heat, and freshwater transports of the global ocean circulation 1993-2000, estimated from a general circulation model constrained by World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) data (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch 2002, Ocean Observations and the Climate Forecast Problem (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 2003, Determining Paleoceanographic Circulations, with Emphasis on the Last Glacial Maximum (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 2003, The Spectral Description of Climate Change Including the 100KY Energy (pdf)
  • Ganachaud, A. and C. Wunsch, 2003, Large-scale ocean heat and freshwater transports during the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch and D. E. Gunn, 2003, A Densely Sampled Core and Climate Variable Aliasing (pdf)
  • M. Losch and C. Wunsch, 2003, Bottom Topography as a Control Variable in an Ocean Model (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 2003, Greenland---Antarctic Phase Relations and Millennial Time-Scale Climate Fluctuations in the Greenland Cores (pdf)
  • P. Huybers and C. Wunsch, 2003, Rectification and precession period signals in the climate system (pdf)
  • Li, X. and C. Wunsch 2003, Constraining the North Atlantic Circulation between 4.5 degrees S and 39.5 degrees N with transient tracer observations (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C. and R. Ferrari, 2004, Vertical mixing, energy, and the general circulation of the ocean (pdf)
  • Li, X. and C. Wunsch 2004, An adjoint sensitivity study of chlorofluorocarbons in the North Atlantic (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., 2004, Quantitative estimate of the Milankovitch-Forced Contribution to Climate Change (pdf)
  • P. Huybers and C. Wunsch, 2004, A Depth-Derived Pleistocene Age-Model: Uncertainty Estimates, Sedimentation Variability, and Nonlinear Climate Change (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2004, Thermohaline loops, Stommel box models, and Sandstrom's theorem, Tellus (pdf)
  • Stammer, D., K. Ueyoshi, A. Kohl, W. G. Large, S. A. Josey, C. Wunsch, 2004, Estimating air&sea fluxes of heat, freshwater and momentum through global ocean data assimilation (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2004, Gulf Stream Safe If Wind Blows. Nature letter (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2005, Speculations on a schematic theory of the Younger Dryas. JMR (pdf)
  • P. Huybers and C. Wunsch, 2005, Obliquity pacing of the late Pleistocene glacial terminations. Nature (pdf)
  • S. Yuan and C. Wunsch, 2005, Stress-driven thermohaline loops. Physics of Fluids (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2005. The Total Meridional Heat Flux and the Oceanic and Atmospheric Partition J. Climate (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2006. Abrupt climate change. An alternative view Quat. Res. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2006. Towards the World Ocean Circulation Experiment and a Bit of Aftermath (pdf) in Physical Oceanography: Developments Since 1950, Jochum & Murtugudde, Eds.
  • Gebbie, G., P. Heimbach and C. Wunsch 2006. Strategies for nested and eddy-resolving state estimation, J. Geophys. Res. (pdf)
  • Stammer, D., C. Wunsch, and K. Ueyoshi, 2006. Temporal changes in ocean eddy transports, J. Phys. Oc. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch and P. Heimbach, 2006. Decadal changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning and heat flux. (pdf), JPO
  • E. Tziperman, M. E. Raymo, P. Huybers, C. Wunsch, 2006. Consequences of pacing the Pleistocene 100 kyr ice ages by non linear phase locking to Milankovitch forcing (pdf), Paleoceanography
  • C. Wunsch and P. Heimbach, 2007. Practical Global Oceanic State Estimation (pdf), Physica D
  • R. M. Ponte, C. Wunsch and D, Stammer, 2007. Spatial mapping of time-variable errors in Jason-I and TOPEX/POSEIDON surface height measurements. J. Atm. Oc. Tech. (pdf)
  • D, Stammer, A. Koehl, and C. Wunsch, 2007. Impact of accurate geoid fields on estimates of the ocean circulation. J. Atm. Oc. Tech. (pdf)
  • R. M. Ponte, K. J. Quinn, C. Wunsch and P. Heimbach, 2007. A comparison of model and GRACE estimates of the large-scale seasonal cycle in ocean bottom pressure. Geophys. Res. Letts (pdf)
  • G. Forget and C. Wunsch, 2007. Estimated Global Hydrographic Variability J. Phys. Oc. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2007. The Past and Future Ocean Circulation from a Contemporary Perspective, in AGU Monograph, 173, A. Schmittner, J. Chiang and S. Hemming, Eds., 53-74, (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, R. Ponte, P. Heimbach, 2007. Decadal trends in sea level patterns: 1993-2004 J. Clim., (pdf)
  • D. J. Baker, R. W. Schmitt and C. Wunsch, 2008. Endowments and New Institutions for Long-Term Observations, Oceanography, (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch 2008. Extremes, Patterns, and Other Structures in Oceanographic and Climate Records (pdf) Aha Huliko'a Hawaiian Winter Workshop on Extreme Events
  • C. Wunsch 2008. Mass transport variability in an eddy-filled ocean. Nature Geoscience. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, P. Heimbach, 2008. How long to oceanic tracer and proxy equilibrium? (pdf) Quat. Sci. Revs.
  • S. Vinogradov, R. M. Ponte, C. Wunsch, 2008. The mean seasonal cycle in sea level estimated from a data-constrained general circulation model. J. Geophys. Res. (pdf)
  • R. Ferrari and C. Wunsch,2009, Ocean Circulation Kinetic Energy: Reservoirs, Sources, and Sinks, Ann. Revs. Fl. Mech. (link to pdf).
  • C. Wunsch and P. Heimbach, 2009, The globally integrated ocean circulation (MOC), 1992-2006: seasonal and decadal variability, J. Phys. Oc., 39, 351-368 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2009, "A perpetually-running ENSO in the Pliocene?" J. Climate (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, P. Heimbach, R. M. Ponte, I. Fukumori, 2009, "The global general circulation of the ocean estimated by the ECCO Consortium" Oceanography (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2009, "The oceanic variability spectrum and transport trends" Ocean-Atmosphere (pdf---from the C. Garrett Volume)
  • P. Huybers and C. Wunsch, 2010, Paleophysical Oceanography with an Emphasis on Transport Rates, Ann. Rev. Mar. Sci. (link to pdf)
  • C. Wunsch,2010, Variability of the Indo-Pacific Exchanges, Dyn. Atm. Oc. (pdf)
  • M. Mazloff, P. Heimbach and C. Wunsch,2010, An eddy-permitting Southern Ocean state estimate, JPO, (pdf)
  • R. Ferrari and C. Wunsch, 2010, The distribution of eddy kinetic and potential energies in the global ocean. Tellus (G. Walin Vol., pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2010, Towards understanding the paleocean. Quat. Sci Rev. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2010, Toward a midlatitude frequency-wavenumber spectral density and trend determination. J. Phys. Oc. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch,2010, Observational network design for climate. In OceanObs2009 plenary papers, doi:10.5270/OceanObs09.pp.41, (Vol. 1), (pdf)
  • P. Heimbach et al., 2011, Timescales and regions of the sensitivity of Atlantic meridional volume and heat transport magnitudes: toward observing system design. Deep-Sea Res.-II (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2011, The decadal mean ocean circulation and Sverdrup balance. J. Mar. Res. (Kamenkovich Vol.) (pdf)
  • C. Siberlin and C. Wunsch, 2011, Ocean tracer and proxy time scales revisited. Clim. of Past., 7, 1-14, (pdf)
  • F. Roquet, C. Wunsch, G. Madec, 2011, The patterns of wind-power input to the ocean circulation. J. Phys. Oc. (pdf)
  • X. Zhai, H. L. Johnson, D. P. Marshall, C. Wunsch, 2012, On the wind power input to the ocean general circulation. J. Phys. Oc. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2012, Covariances and linear predictability of the North Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Res. II, H. T. Rossby Vol. DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2012.07.015 (pdf)
  • X. Zhai and C. Wunsch, 2013, On the variability of wind power input to the oceans with a focus on the subpolar North Atlantic. J. Clim., 26, 38923903. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch and P. Heimbach, 2013, Dynamically and kinematically consistent global ocean circulation and ice state estimates. In Ocean Circulation and Climate 2nd Edition, Siedler et al., Eds. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch and P. Heimbach, 2013, Two decades of the Atlantic Meridional overturning circulation: Anatomy, variations, prediction, and overcoming its limitations, J. Climate, 26, 3892-3903 (pdf)
  • F. Roquet, C. Wunsch, and others, 2013, Estimates of the Southern Ocean general circulation from marine mammal-based data, Geophys. Res. Letts. (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, 2013, Baroclinic motions and energetics as measured by altimeters, J. Atm. Ocean Tech., 30, 140-150 (pdf)
  • H. Dail and C. Wunsch, 2013, Dynamical reconstruction of upper ocean conditions in the Last Glacial Maximum Atlantic, J. Clim.,27, 807-823 (pdf)
  • C. Wortham and C. Wunsch, 2014, A multidimensional spectral description of ocean variability J. Phys. Oc., 44, 944-966 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch and P. Heimbach, 2014, Bidecadal thermal changes in the abyssal ocean, J. Phys. Oc., 44, 2013-2030 (pdf)
  • R. Chen, G. R. Flierl, C. Wunsch, 2014, A description of local and non-local eddy-mean flow interaction in a global eddy-permitting state estimate. J. Phys. Oc., 44, 2336-2352 (pdf).
  • Forget, G., J.-M. Campin, P. Heimbach, C. N. Hill, R. M Ponte, and C. Wunsch, ECCO version 4: an integrated framework for non-linear inverse modeling and global ocean state estimation, Geo. Sci. Model Dev., 8, 3071Ð3104, 2015 (pdf)
  • Liang, X. and C. Wunsch, Note on the redistribution and dissipation of tidal energy over mid-ocean ridges. Tellus A, 5, 67, 27385, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v67.27385, 2015 (pdf)
  • D. Amrhein, G. Gebbie, O. Marchal, C. Wunsch. 2015 Inferring surface water equilibrium calcite d18 O for the last deglacial period from benthic foraminiferal records: Implications for ocean circulation. Paleoceanography, 30, doi:10.1002/2014PA002743. (pdf).
  • C. Wunsch, Global Ocean Integrals and Means, with Trend Implications. Ann Rev. Mar. Sci.,8, 2016. (link)
  • C. Wunsch, Pore Fluids and the LGM Ocean Salinity---Reconsidered, QSR, 2016 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, Last Glacial Maximum and Deglacial Abyssal Seawater Oxygen Isotopic Ratios, Climate of the Past, 2016 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, Tides of Global Ice-Covered Oceans, Icarus, 2016 (pdf)
  • X. Liang, M. Spall, C. Wunsch, Global ocean vertical velocity from a dynamically consistent state estimate, J. Geophys. Res., Oceans, 2017 (pdf)
  • X. Liang, et al., Change of the global ocean vertical heat transport over 1993-2010. J. Clim., 30, 5319-5327, 2017 (pdf)
  • I. Fukumori, P. Heimbach, R. M. Ponte, C. Wunsch, A dynamically consistent ocean climatology and its temporal variations. Bull. Am. Met. Soc., October, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0213.1,2107-2127, 2018 (pdf)
  • M. Sonnewald, C. Wunsch, P. Heimbach, Linear predictability. J. Climate, 31, 2599-2611. 2018 (pdf)
  • Amrhein, D, C. Wunsch, O. Marchal, G. Forget, A global glacial ocean state estimate constrained by 2 upper ocean temperature proxies. J. Climate, 31, 8059-8079. 2018 (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., Towards determining uncertainties in global ocean mean values of heat, salt, and surface elevation. Tellus A, 70, 1-14. 2018 (pdf)
  • Wunsch, C., One hundred years of the ocean circulation. Met. Monographs: A Century of Progress in Atmospheric and Related Sciences: Celebrating the Am. Met. Soc. Centennial. Ch. 7 7.1-7.32, 2018 (pdf)
  • Sonnewald, M., Wunsch, C., P. Heimbach, Unsupervised learning reveals geography of global ocean dynamical regions. Earth Space Sci. 6, 784-794, 2019 (pdf)
  • Heimbach, P., I. Fukumori et al., Putting it all together: Adding value to the global ocean and climate observing systems with complete self-consistent ocean state and parameter estimation. Frontiers Mar. Sci., 6:55, 2019 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, Multi-year ocean thermal variability. Tellus A, 72, 1-15 2020 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, Is the ocean speeding up? Ocean surface energy trends. J. Phys. Oc., 50, 3205-3207. 2020 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, Can oceanic flows be heard? Abyssal melodies. J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 152, 2160. 2022 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, J. Wunsch. Baroclinic tidal conversion: Note on a paper of L. R. M. Maas, J. Fluid Mech. 946 A47, 2022 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch. Right Place, Right Time. An Informal Memoir. Annual Revs. Mar. Sci. 2022 (pdf)
  • F. Roquet and C. Wunsch, The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and its hypothetical collapse, Tellus A, 74(1),393-398. 2022 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, S. Williamson, P. Heimbach. Potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants from sequential state estimation. Ocean Sci., 19, 1253-1275, 2023 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, The shift to a global view and its changing culture,Perspect. Earth Space Scis.,4, 2023 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch, A simplified ocean physics? Revisiting abyssal recipes. J. Phys. Oc., 55, 1387-1400, 2023 (pdf)
    UNPUBLISHED PAPERS OR SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION
  • C. Wunsch. A time average ocean: Thermal wind and flow spirals, unpublished document, 2023 (pdf)
  • C. Wunsch. Supplemental Material for 'A time average ocean: Thermal wind and flow spirals', unpublished document, 2023 (pdf)
  • Listing in CV is more complete. Email me for copies of other papers: carl.wunsch@gmail.com  

    • Last Modified: December 2023

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