Loading...

BACKGROUND

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences at the University of Liverpool, UK. Before this, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University, USA and completed my PhD from Imperial College London, UK.

My research primarily focuses on the role of the oceans in the climate system. I am interested in questions pertaining to oceans' role in climate variability and predictability, meridional overturning circulation and tracer transport, the role of bathymetry in ocean circulation, mesoscale-submesoscale processes and turbulence. For my research, I utilise a combination of realistic ocean and climate model outputs, idealised process models, and observational datasets. For more information, please refer to Research section.

For more details on my professional life, see my .

RESEARCH

Mesoscale and Submesoscale Turbulence

In general, mesoscales are the scales of size roughly in the range 500-5000 km in the atmosphere and 10-100 km in the oceans. These are the scales where baroclinic instability is prominent, through which available potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. The process energises mesoscale random motions commonly known as eddies. Eddies play a key role in large-scale atmospheric and ocean circulation. I make use of various datasets to study statistical properties of turbulence in the atmosphere and oceans, eddy-mean flow interactions, transport and mixing by eddies etc.

Alternating Jets

Alternating jets have been well observed in Earth's oceans and planetary atmospheres like Jupiter, which are formed due to the presence of Rossby waves. Jets are prominent in the Southern, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. These jets are few hundreds to thousands of kilometres long and can stay for a few months to a couple of years. The jets are primarily forced by mesoscale eddies, which receive energy through baroclinic instability. The jets play an important role in ocean transport and mixing. I am interested in various aspects of these jets, e.g. spatial and temporal variability, interactions of jets with eddies and topography, material transport and mixing around jets.

Circulation of Planetary Atmospheres

In planets including the Earth, the excess energy received at the equator is transported to the poles via atmospheric (and oceanic) circulation. In a dry atmosphere, the strength of the meridional circulation mainly depends on the equator to pole temperature gradient and vertical density stratification, which also have a significant impact on tracer transport. I am interested in understanding the atmospheric circulation of planets of different sizes, temperature and stratification conditions.

ANIMATIONS

  • All
  • Ocean
  • Atmosphere

PUBLICATIONS

CONTACT

Hemant Khatri

Email: hkhatri@liverpool.ac.uk

111, Nicholson Building,

University of Liverpool, Liverpool L3 5DA, UK