César Sauvage

Research Associate III
Physical Oceanography Dpt.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.

Research Interests

I am currently a Research Associate III at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) working with Dr. Hyodae Seo and Dr. Carol Anne Clayson, with an interest in contributing to a deeper understanding of the air-sea interactions and how the ocean can modulate the global and regional climate. In order to tackle these topics, I use coupled Earth system models (i.e. SCOAR Regional Coupled Model) involving interactions between the atmosphere, the ocean and the ocean surface waves. Along with numerical simulations, extensive use of available observation dataset made in the marine boundary layer is needed to assess the current modeling capability and how it can be improved. A better understanding and representation of the air-sea interaction in numerical models can have crucial implications in weather forecast but also in assessing offshore wind energy.

Wind and waves evolution during Winter 2020 from ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5).

Current Projects (see also past projects)

  • NSF PO (2022-2026): Improving understanding of coupled impacts of oceans and waves on air-sea fluxes in the US Northeast Coast. PIs: Seo, Sauvage, Edson and Clayson.
  • NASA MAP (2021-2024): Improving coupled atmosphere-ocean processes in NU-WRF for the simulation of coast-threatening extratropical cyclones in the northeastern US. PI: Seo, Edson, Clayson (all at WHOI), Braun & Shi (NASA GSFC).
  • DOE WFIP3 (2021-2026), Improving High Resolution Offshore Wind Resource Assessments and Forecasts using Observations in the MA/RI Lease Areas. Kirincich et al.
  • NOAA CVP (2019-2022), Coupled Ocean-atmosphere interaction mediated by ocean mesoscale eddies in the Northwestern Tropical Atlantic Ocean. PI : Seo and Clayson.

Recent Talks: (see full list)

  • 5th Workshop on Waves and Wave-Coupled Processes, Reading, UK, Apr. 2024.
    Sauvage C., H. Seo, B. Barr, J. B. Edson and C-A. Clayson: Misaligned Wind-Waves Behind Atmospheric Cold Fronts. Talk.
  • Ocean Science Meeting 2024, New Orleans, LA, USA, Feb. 2024.
    Sauvage C., H. Seo, J. B. Edson and C-A. Clayson: Air-Sea Flux Impacts Over Misaligned Waves During Atmospheric Cold Fronts. Talk.

Recent Publications: (see full list)

Submitted

  • Sauvage, C., Seo, H., Benjamin W. Barr, Edson, J.B.and Clayson, C.A.: Misaligned Wind-Waves Behind Atmospheric Cold Fronts, JGR: Oceans, Submitted, 2024. Preprint.

Published (Peer-Reviewed)

2024

  • Bouin, M.-N., Lebeaupin Brossier, C., Malardel, S., Voldoire, A., and Sauvage, C.: The wave-age-dependent stress parameterisation (WASP) for momentum and heat turbulent fluxes at sea in SURFEX v8.1, Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 117–141, gmd-17-117-2024 , 2024.

2023

  • Sauvage, C., Seo, H., Clayson, C.A. and Edson, J.B.: Improving wave-based air-sea momentum flux parameterization in mixed seas, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 128, e2022JC019277, DOI: 10.1029/2022JC019277, 2023