Research Interests (Global Research)

My research is focused on model and analysis of physical processes in estuaries and over continental shelves and slopes. My students and I have conducted extensive data-assimilation model studies of the coastal circulation in the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Maria Basin (SBC/SMB), as part of a major collaborative research with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Princeton University. We investigated how the coastal surface flow patterns vary with seasons and between years (including the 1997-1998 El Nino). We also constructed a detailed flow statistics for oil spill risk analysis and search and rescue mission. Currently, we are working mostly on the east and Gulf coasts. We study the Mid-Atlantic Bight shelf/slope circulation and the Gulf Stream warm-core rings using a unique dataset of >10 year, bi-weekly ADCP survey between New York and Bermuda onboard a commercial cargo ship, the Oleander. We also try to quantify the estuarine plume behavior using full-year CODAR observations at the mouth of the Long Island/Block Island Sound. I am also working closely with many international partners, including the National Center for Ocean Research in Taiwan, and IMEDA in Spain.

Publications

Wang, Y-H., I-H. Lee, and D.-P. Wang, 2005. Typhoon induced extreme coastal surges: A case study at northeast Taiwan in 1994. J. Coastal Res., 21, 548-552.

Ohashi, K. and D.-P. Wang, 2004. Circulation in the Santa Maria Basin, California, during 1998. J. Geophys. Res., J. Geophys. Res., 109, doi:10.1029/2004JC002362.

Oey, L-Y., E. Dever, C. Winant, W.R. Johnson and D-P. Wang, 2004. A data-assimilated model of the near-surface circulation of the Santa Barbara Channel: Comparison with observations and dynamical interpretation. J.Phys. Oceanogr., 34, 23-43.

Wang, Y-H., L-Y. Chao, K. Lwiza and D-P. Wang, 2004. Analysis of flow at the gate of Tawain Strait. J. Geophys. Res., 109, doi:10.1029/2003JC001937.

Sen, J., Y-H. Wang, D-P. Wang, and S-Y. Chao, 2004. Incremental inference of boundary forcing for a three-dimensional tidal model: Tides in the Taiwan Strait. Cont. Shelf Res., 24(3), 337-351.

Banas, N., D.-P. Wang, and J. Yen, 2003. Experimental validation of an individual-based model for zooplankton swarming. Handbook of Scaling Methods in Aquatic Ecology: Measurement, Analysis, Simulation, L. Seuront and P.G. Strutton, ed., CRC Press, 600 pp.

I-H. Lee, W-S. Chuang, and D-P. Wang, 2003. Structure and propagation of a large cyclonic eddy in the western North Pacific from analysis of XBT and altimetry data and numerical simulation. Terres., Atmos. Oceanic Sci. (TAO), 14, 183-200.

Wang, Y-H. and D-P. Wang, 2003. Transport through Taiwan Strait from shipboard ADCP observations (1999-2001). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 57, 193-199.

Wang, D.-P., L.-Y. Oey, T. Ezer, and P.Hamilton, 2003. Nearsurface currents in Desoto Canyon (1997-1999): Comparison of current meters, satellite observations, and model simulation. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 33, 313-326.

Paris, C.B., R.K. Cowen, K.M.M. Lwiza, D.-P. Wang, and D.B. Olson, 2002. Multivariate objective analysis of three-dimensional circulation in the vicinity of Barbados, West Indies: Implication for larval transport. Deep Sea Res., 49, 1363-1386.

Sen, J., Y-H. Wang, S-Y. Chao, and D-P. Wang, 2001. Development of a Nowcast System for the Taiwan Strait (TSNOW): numerical simulation of barotropic tides, Ocean Polar Res., 23, 195-203.

Oey, L-Y., D-P. Wang, T. Hayward, C. Winant and M. Hendershott, 2001. Upwelling and cyclonic regimes of the near-surface circulation in the Santa Barbara Channel, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 9213-9222.

Park, M.-J., and D.-P. Wang, 2000.  Tidal vorticity around a coastal promontory, J. Oceanogr., 56, 261-273.

Chen, C.-S., and D.-P. Wang, 2000. Data assimilation model study of wind effects in the Santa Barbara Channel, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 22,003-22,013.

Chen, C.-S., and D.-P. Wang, 2000. Data assimilation model study of wind effects in the Santa Barbara Channel, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 22,003-22,013.