Dr Ata (Sutara) Suanda

Contact details

Email suandas@uncw.edu

Academic qualifications

BA Wesleyan University (2003)
MSc Oregon State University (2009)
PhD, Oregon State University (2014)

Research interests

• Circulation and water properties in coastal, estuarine and nearshore environments
• The interaction of physical processes with biogeochemistry and human interests in the coastal ocean
• Tides, internal waves, wind- and wave-driven physics
• Numerical models of ocean circulation and model literacy

Ata is also a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration that connects communities with world-leading, cross-discipline research to rebuild coastal ecosystems.
Coastal People: Southern Skies

Research projects

My research focuses on physical processes in the coastal ocean. This work includes running idealised and realistic numerical models, maintaining oceanographic observations, and collaborating with community partners to enhance our understanding of the coastal environment.

Coastal modelling

Example of simulated headland surface temperature and circulation with wave wind, wave, and tidal forcing.

Winds, waves, and tides drive coastal circulation with wide reaching impacts on pollutant dispersal, nutrient delivery, and the connectivity of marine organisms.

Oceanographic modelling across a wide range of space and time scales is a collaborative effort and intersects physical oceanography, computer science, and model evaluation and data analysis.

Ongoing work from California, USA:

https://scripps.ucsd.edu/projects/innershelf/modeling/

For coastal New Zealand, we collaborate with the Moana project:

https://www.moanaproject.org/

Transient rip currents

Plan view of simulated instantaneous sea level (left) and a measure of circulation, vorticity (right). The shoreline is on the right and the region of wave breaking (surfzone) is identified by the dashed black line.

Random, directionally-spread breaking waves drive episodic offshore flows (transient rip currents).

These flows have implications for swimmer safety and are currently not represented in wave-averaged models.

We use a wave-resolving model funwaveC as a numerical laboratory to characterize transient rip currents and determine scaling relations to background wave conditions.

Coastal ocean observations

Plough anchor used for coastal mooring, 2018. Mounted to the shank is a high-frequency wave and tide recorder.

Understanding complex coastal ocean dynamics requires persistent and innovative observational methods.

In collaboration with other Otago faculty and the Marine Science RV fleet, we look to continue and expand upon the long history of observations of the Otago coastal ocean.