Dr. Ajit Subramanian is a Doherty Associate Research Scientists.

He holds a Ph. D. in Coastal Oceanography from SUNY at Stony Brook, following an M.S. in marine environmental studies from there and a B.Sc. from The American College. His field of interest include Oceanography, Remote sensing, Bio-Optics, and Coastal Water Quality .

Here is his synopsis of his research efforts:

I am interested in the use of remote sensing, ocean optics, phytoplankton physiology, biological and physical oceanography and geographical information systems to better understand how the marine ecosystem works and can be managed. To this end, I have worked closely with biological and chemical oceanographers and ecosystem modelers, placing in-situ shipboard measurements on a broader basin-scale or global context and complementing model results with remote sensing [Capone et al. 1997. An extensive bloom of the diazotrophic cyanobacterium, Trichodesmium erythraem, in the central Arabian Sea during the spring intermonsoon, Carpenter et al. 1999. Extensive bloom of a N2 fixing symbiotic association in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, Hood et al. 2001. Remote Estimation of Nitrogen Fixation by Trichodesmium]. We have just completed a five-year study of the Amazon River plume and its effect on the Tropical North Atlantic Ocean. My specific interest has been to develop mechanistic models that can explain why a particular organism blooms where it does ? what are the factors that cause the bloom, that lead to its demise and the consequences of these blooms. I am also interested in using bio-optics and remote sensing as tools for monitoring coastal water quality and have been working on a NASA funded project with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority towards this goal. I am working on developing a site-specific algorithm for SeaWiFS data to provide a daily synoptic time series of water quality at a sewage outfall site in Massachusetts Bay.

Recent projects have focuses on the potential impacts of rivers and aerosols on Nitrogen fixation in the Atlantic ocean and the Global Ocean; and using Ocean Color Satellite Data for monitoring water quality.

More information can be found on his web site:  http://webcenter.ldeo.columbia.edu:81/people.nsf/c4f65a2662e6f09485256ee80071b305/6cad03b70386439e85256ef300648ef1?OpenDocument