I use satellite altimetry to study the surface of the ocean. From the altimetry record, which now spans almost 30 years, we can compute the height of the sea surface to monitor sea level rise and the height of wind waves and swell. I am interested in the ocean dynamics on different spatial and temporal scales – from its role in climate by its ability to absorb carbon and heat, to seasonal and synoptic interactions with the atmosphere all the way to the energy cascade into small scale turbulence at fronts and through wind and waves. My current research focuses on the Arctic, where climate change has warmed the surface nearly four times as fast as the global average, but observations of the ocean are relatively scarce because of the inaccessible environment. I am studying the way the wave conditions have changed over the past decades in the Bering Sea, where receding sea ice increases the vulnerability of coastal communities wave extremes.
Research Papers/Presentations/Posters
- Fischer, R., Farrell, S. L., Kuhn, J. M., Duncan, K.: Understanding Decadal-scale Trends in Altimeter-derived Significant Wave Height in the Bering Sea, 2022 OSTST Meeting, 183 https://doi.org/10.24400/527896/a03-2022.3466, 2022
- Fischer, R., Lobelle, D., Kooi, M., Koelmans, A., Onink, V., Laufkötter, C., Amaral-Zettler, L., Yool, A., and van Sebille, E.: Modelling submerged biofouled microplastics and their vertical trajectories, Biogeosciences, 19, 2211–2234, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2211-2022, 2022.
- Kehl, C., Fischer, R. P. B., and van Sebille, E.: Practices, Pitfalls and Guidelines in Visualising Lagrangian Ocean Analyses, ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., V-4-2021, 217–224, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-V-4-2021-217-2021, 2021.
Department Involvement
- 2022-present: Department Seminar Graduate Student Assistant
Personal interests
- Hiking
- (Cross-country) skiing
- Football
- Sports analytics