Physical Oceanography

The Physical Oceanography program seeks research planning letters on topics that will lead to improved observation and forecasting of ocean circulation and properties on naval relevant time and length scales. The program strongly encourages hypothesis-based research that will advance our understanding of ocean dynamics and how to improve model parameterizations and formulations, including new numerical techniques.

Broad areas of interest include:

• submesoscale dynamics and variability,
• processes that govern ocean mixing,
• air-sea interaction on fine spatial and temporal scales,
• sensor and platform development targeting the above topic areas, and
• novel use of existing or emerging remote, autonomous or in-situ sensing to improve ocean predictions.

We regularly support projects that integrate across other ONR programs (e.g., Ocean Acoustics and Marine Meteorology and Space). Planning letter submissions that span multiple disciplinary fields can be simultaneously submitted to the relevant programs.

The Physical Oceanography program fully embraces the education of the next generation of scientists and the Navy’s commitment to fostering science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. The Early Student Support (ESS) program directly supports student involvement in Physical Oceanography program efforts. We select only a few ESS new starts each year. Additionally, the DoD National Defense and Engineering Graduate Program supports up to three years of graduate study for U.S. citizens whose research aligns with the Department of Defense’s Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs).

Research Concentration Areas

The Physical Oceanography program is always interested in receiving planning letters for any research that addresses the focus areas above, which are supported by the program’s core funding. Currently, the program is particularly interested in research that addresses the following topics:

• processes that control near-bottom currents, density structure, and mixing at the submesoscale,
• stratified, anisotropic turbulence in high-gradient regions of the ocean, and
• autonomous approaches for exploring the submesoscale ocean environment.

Research Challenges and Opportunities

While scientific quality is the most important factor of the review process, an additional significant criterion is the priority of the research topic, which is based on several factors including the current funding profile of the overall Physical Oceanography program. If we are currently funding several significant efforts in a particular research area, the addition of more work on that topic may be of lower priority than new research efforts. The Physical Oceanography program priorities are represented by the ongoing or upcoming Departmental Research Initiatives (DRIs). Thus, prospective investigators are encouraged to review the summaries of completed and current Departmental Research Initiatives (DRIs):

First and Second Island Arc Turbulent Eddy Regional Exchange (ARCTERX), FY21-FY25

Arabian Sea Transition Layer (ASTraL), FY23-FY27

Researching Interior Ocean Trajectories (RIOT), FY24-FY28

These topics form the core of the program focus and investment. Once a DRI has begun, it is rare to encourage additional proposals in those areas.

Planning letters for research to be supported by the 322PO core program should be prepared according to these guidelines. The purpose of planning letters is to allow prospective investigators to submit a brief description of their scientific ideas so that we may evaluate them and offer programmatic and technical feedback before time is invested in writing a full proposal. This allows the program to give some indication of the likely success of a full proposal based on program interests and priorities. Planning letters can be submitted via email and via the ONR online submission portal. Proposals should be submitted to the ONR Long Range Broad Agency Announcement following solicitation guidelines.