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Associate Professor Ross Vennell

Contact DetailsRoss Vennell

Office: 310 Castle Street, room 145
Tel: 64 3 479 8307
Email: ross.vennell@otago.ac.nz

Academic Qualifications

BE (Eng. Science, Auckland)
PhD (MIT/WHOI, Physical Oceanography)

Research Interests

  • Coastal and regional physical oceanography.
  • Tidal physics of jets and channels.
  • Interpolation of Sparse Velocity Data and ADCP tidal analysis with RBFs.
  • Long Period Ocean Waves Generated by Atmospheric Pressure systems.
  • Secondary Currents in Curved Flows.
  • Drag on Human Swimmers.
  • Variability of the subtropical frontal zone inferred from satellite data.
  • Renewable energy production from large arrays of tidal turbines.

Courses

  • EAOS 111 Earth and Ocean Science
  • MARI 112 Global Marine Systems
  • MARI 401 Advanced Methods in Marine Science
  • OCEN 201 Physical Oceanography - Coordinator
  • OCEN 301 Practical and Field Oceanography
  • OCEN 321 Ocean Physics and Modelling - Coordinator
  • COMO 204 Differential Equations
  • PHSI 432 Topics in Advanced Physics

Research Projects

Tidal turbine farms

Interpolation of Sparse Velocity Data and ADCP tidal analysis with RBFs

Long Period Ocean Waves Generated by Atmospheric Pressure

Secondary Currents in Curved Flows

Drag on Human Swimmers

Tidal Channel Dynamics

Postgraduate Students

Cerys Bailey - Thesis Title (PhD):Two-layer flow, curvature and mixing in the Taieri River

Fachry Ramadyan - Thesis Title (MSc):Seasonal Variation of Chlorophyll-a in Subtropical Convergence

Rob Smith - Thesis Title (PhD):Where is the subtropical front?

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Publications

Vennell, R. (2010). Tuning turbines in a tidal channel. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 663, 253-267. doi: 10.1017/s0022112010003502

Vennell, R. (2010). Resonance and trapping of topographic transient ocean waves generated by a moving atmospheric disturbance. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 650, 427-442. doi: 10.1017/S0022112009993739

Vennell, R., & Beatson, R. (2009). A divergence-free spatial interpolator for large sparse velocity data sets. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114, C004973. doi: 10.1029/2008jc004973

Vennell, R. (2011). Tuning tidal turbines in-concert to maximise farm efficiency. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 671, 587-604. doi: 10.1017/S0022112010006191

Vennell, R., Pease, D., & Wilson, B. (2006). Wave drag on human swimmers. Journal of Biomechanics, 39, 664-671.

Journal - Research Article

Vennell, R. (2013). Exceeding the Betz limit with tidal turbines. Renewable Energy, 55, 277-285. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2012.12.016

Divett, T., Vennell, R., & Stevens, C. (2013). Optimization of multiple turbine arrays in a channel with tidally reversing flow by numerical modelling with adaptive mesh. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 371(1985), 20120251. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2012.0251

Smith, R. O., Vennell, R., Bostock, H. C., & Williams, M. J. M. (2013). Interaction of the subtropical front with topography around southern New Zealand. Deep Sea Research Part I, 76, 13-26. doi: 10.1016/j.dsr.2013.02.007

Vennell, R. (2012). The energetics of large tidal turbine arrays. Renewable Energy, 48, 210-219. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2012.04.018

Vennell, R. (2012). Realizing the potential of tidal currents and the efficiency of turbine farms in a channel. Renewable Energy, 47, 95-102. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2012.03.036

Vennell, R. (2011). Estimating the power potential of tidal currents and the impact of power extraction on flow speeds. Renewable Energy, 36(12), 3558-3565. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2011.05.011

Thiebaut, S., & Vennell, R. (2011). Resonance of long waves generated by storms obliquely crossing shelf topography in a rotating ocean. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 682, 261-288. doi: 10.1017/jfm.2011.221

Vennell, R. (2011). Tuning tidal turbines in-concert to maximise farm efficiency. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 671, 587-604. doi: 10.1017/S0022112010006191

Thiebaut, S., & Vennell, R. (2010). Observation of a fast continental shelf wave generated by a storm impacting Newfoundland using wavelet and cross-wavelet analyses. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 40(2), 417-428. doi: 10.1175/2009JPO4204.1

Vennell, R. (2010). Resonance and trapping of topographic transient ocean waves generated by a moving atmospheric disturbance. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 650, 427-442. doi: 10.1017/S0022112009993739

Griffith, G. P., Vennell, R., & Williams, M. J. M. (2010). An algal photoprotection index and vertical mixing in the Southern Ocean. Journal of Plankton Research, 32(4), 515-527. doi: 10.1093/plankt/fbq003

Vennell, R. (2010). Tuning turbines in a tidal channel. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 663, 253-267. doi: 10.1017/s0022112010003502

Vennell, R., & Beatson, R. (2009). A divergence-free spatial interpolator for large sparse velocity data sets. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114, C004973. doi: 10.1029/2008jc004973

Griffith, G. P., Vennell, R., & Lamare, M. D. (2009). Diadinoxanthin cycle of the bottom ice algal community during spring in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 32(4), 623-636. doi: 10.1007/s00300-008-0562-5

Vennell, R. (2007). Long barotropic waves generated by a storm crossing topography. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 37(12), 2809-2823.

Vennell, R., & Old, C. (2007). High-resolution observations of the intensity of secondary circulation along a curved tidal channel. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, C11008. doi: 10.1029/2006JC003764

Vennell, R., Pease, D., & Wilson, B. (2006). Wave drag on human swimmers. Journal of Biomechanics, 39, 664-671.

Vennell, R. (2006). ADCP measurements of momentum balance and dynamic topography in a constricted tidal channel. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 36(2), 177-188.

Vennell, R., & Beatson, R. (2006). Moving vessel acoustic Doppler current profiler measurement of tidal stream function using radial basis functions. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111, C09002. doi: 10.1029/2005JC003321

Albrecht, N., Vennell, R., Williams, M., Stevens, C., Langhorne, P., Leonard, G., & Haskell, T. (2006). Observation of sub-inertial internal tides in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L24606. doi: 10.1029/2006GL027377

Shaw, A. G., & Vennell, M. R. (2001). Measurements of an oceanic front using a front-following algorithm for AVHRR SST imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 75(1), 47-62.

Old, C. P., & Vennell, R. (2001). Acoustic Doppler current profiler measurements of the velocity field of an ebb tidal jet. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106(C4), 7037-7049. doi: 10.1029/1999JC000144

Shaw, A. G. P., & Vennell, M. R. (2000). A front-following algorithm for AVHRR SST imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 72, 317-327.

Vennell, M. R. (1998). Oscillating barotropic currents along short channels. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 28, 1561.

Vennell, M. R. (1998). Observations of the phase of tidal currents along a strait. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 28, 1570.

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