Physical Oceanographer

See my full cv <here>.

about me

I'm an oceanographer and climate scientist fascinated by how the ocean and atmosphere talk to each other, especially in the coldest, most remote corners of our planet.

I'm an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. My research explores the physical mechanisms that drive decadal-to-multidecadal climate variability, with a focus on high-latitude processes. I focus on meridional ocean heat transport, intergyre interactions, gyre-overturning coupling, high-latitude ocean-atmosphere-sea ice radiative feedbacks, and deep convection. I'm especially interested in how these polar processes ripple outward to influence global climate and climate predictability.

To answer these questions, I draw on tools from across the scientific toolbox: Earth system modeling, statistical analysis, observational fieldwork, and increasingly, physics-informed machine learning. I'm drawn to building models that not only predict climate behavior but also help us understand the physical mechanisms driving it.

I was introduced early in my Ph.D. to Klaus Hasselmann's work on stochastic climate variability — the idea that short-term weather "noise" can accumulate into long-term climate signals. That framework has stuck with me and still shapes how I approach my research.

My path has taken me across three continents and more than one ocean. I grew up in India, earned a B.Tech in Computer Science there, and then moved to Newfoundland, Canada, for my M.Sc. in Physical Oceanography at Memorial University — my first real introduction to life beside a cold, ever-present ocean. From there, I completed a Ph.D. in Oceanography at Texas A&M University, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Johns Hopkins University. Along the way, I've conducted fieldwork on research vessels in the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Mexico, run laboratory experiments on stratified fluids, and analyzed some of the largest climate model datasets in the world.

Teaching and mentoring are as central to who I am as a researcher. I've spent more than seven years teaching oceanography and climate science, and I care deeply about creating classrooms where curiosity — not perfection — is the goal. I've also mentored young women pursuing STEM careers and led science outreach workshops for high school students.

I believe good science should be rigorous, collaborative, and genuinely useful — and that's the spirit I strive to bring to everything I do, both in the classroom and in my research.

Los Alamos national laboratory

Research: Bjerknes compensation (BjC) on decadal to longer timescales across the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) experiments to identify critical processes contributing to the inter-model spread of BJC and the role of sea ice and cloud feedbacks in the Arctic Ocean

The term BJC is used to describe the hypothesis that atmospheric and oceanic heat transport variations balance each other, given that the fluxes at the top of the atmosphere and ocean heat content remain approximately constant. BJC on decadal to longer timescales is present across multiple simulations in the piControl experiment (with preindustrial forcing) as seen through significant anti-correlation between atmospheric and oceanic heat transport across 65°N. I am currently in the process of submitting a manuscript summarizing my research on understanding the mechanisms of Arctic Bjerknes Compensation in (CMIP6) 'pre-industrial' experiment. I developed analysis metrics to understand how sea ice and clouds uniquely modify the radiative balance of the polar atmosphere and their opposing impacts on longwave and shortwave radiation budgets. Bjerknes compensation is significantly reduced in the 21st century, as seen across simulations in the historical and abrupt-4XCO2 experiments (CO2 is abruptly quadrupled and then held constant). Subsequently, I am also studying the mechanisms responsible for weakening Bjerknes compensation in the Arctic (in the historical and abrupt-4×CO2 experiments) and formulating a second manuscript is also a major focus over the next few months.

As a polar oceanographer, I believe the work of climate scientists is two-fold, one, studying a changing climate, and two, effectively communicating them to the public. Strong communication improves understanding and enables scientists to communicate complex results, which can significantly increase the impact of our science. I was part of a project to highlight the role of polynyas in modulating the earth's mesoscale motions using high-resolution simulations. The resulting narrated animation and the conference paper were submitted to Scientific Visualization and Data Analytics Showcase (https://sc21.supercomputing.org/proceedings/sci_viz/sci_viz_pages/svs106.html).

@ texas a&M university

research: Processes responsible for preconditioning and triggering open ocean deep convection in Community earth system models

My advisor Dr. Achim Stossel and I worked with the Climate Ocean Sea Ice Modeling (COSIM) group at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to study processes associated with open ocean polynya and their representation in ocean models by analyzing ocean, sea-ice, atmosphere fields from a high-resolution eddy-resolving fully-coupled (ocean-sea ice-atmosphere-land) CESM simulation.

Open-Ocean Polynyas (OOPs) in the Southern Ocean are sea-ice free areas within the winter ice pack that are associated with deep convection, potentially contributing to the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water. It has been speculated that such formed intermittently before the 1970’s, when the atmospheric CO2 concentration was lower than today. While fully-coupled simulations with coarse-resolution versions of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) show no signs of OOP formation, realistic OOPs emerge in high-resolution CESM simulations.

My focus was on understanding the role of poleward shifting westerlies on the circulation and stratification of the Southern Ocean influencing polynya formation, deep convection, and mixing (Kurtakoti et al. 2018, 2021). I studied the interaction between small-scale dynamics and large-scale features of the ocean circulation, such as Taylor cap dynamics in the Weddell Sea, and their role in the Southern Ocean ventilation, ocean mixing, and deep convection. We found, while the formation of Maud Rise Polynyas (MRPs; open ocean polynyas associated with a prominent seamount in the eastern Weddell Sea) requires high resolution to simulate the detailed flow around Maud Rise, a realistic simulation of large Weddell Sea Polynyas (WSPs) requires the ability of a model to produce MRPs.

@ Memorial University of Newfoundland

Research : Understanding the energy flux of internal waves reflecting  off continental shelf topography

My masters research was on studying internal gravity waves with my supervisor, Dr. James Munroe. The time I spent here was what made me go for a PhD. Working in a fluids lab is so much fun !!

1. I used Python for all the scientific calculations and data analysis purposes. The early models of the wave generator were built using LEGOs :P We also designed and built the tank ourselves..! and stress tested it using SOLIDWORKS to make sure we wouldn't flood the building. The python package to perform Synthetic Schlieren was also homegrown since we couldn't pay for the commercial software !!!

2. To understand mechanisms involved in the evolution and interaction of internal waves with sloping topography (subcritical,critical and supercritical), we performed a series (LOTS and LOTS!) of laboratory experiments to study the energy flux of internal waves in a continuously stratified salt water fluid.

   • The internal waves were generated by a wave generator that is capable of producing monochromatic, vertically trapped waves (L. Gostiaux, H. Didelle, S. Mercier, and T. Dauxois (2007)). The wave generator consists of a series of vertically stacked plates which are controlled by a camshaft and the camshaft can be precisely controlled to rotate at different frequencies generating internal waves of different modes.

   • These internal waves propagate along the length of the tank (~5m) and reflect off a sloping boundary wall. The slope of the boundary can be critical, subcritical or super critical.

   • The structure and amplitude of the internal waves are measured using a non intrusive flow visualization technique called ‘Synthetic Schlieren’ that enables us to measure the amplitude and energy of the waves (B. R. Sutherland, S. B. Dalziel, G. O. Hughes and P. F. Linden (1999)). We measured the vertical displacement amplitude and energy flux of the internal waves varying independently the frequency of the wave generator, stratification of the fluid and angle of the sloping boundary wall.

   • Using Hilbert transform we separated the generated waves and the reflected waves to estimate energy from the incoming waves is present in the reflected internal waves (M. J. Mercier, N. B. Garnier, and T. Dauxois (2008)). The analysis of the energy flux of the internal waves during propagation and reflection using the Hilbert transform is helpful as it brings insight into phenomena that are difficult to observe during field studies.

   • I presented the preliminary findings at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics held in Pittsburgh, USA from Nov 24 -26, 2013 (http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD13/Session/G1.9). Our paper on the research done here is in preparation.

Teaching

Graduate Teaching Assistant                                                   

1. OCNG 252: Introduction to Oceanography LAB (Fall 2015; Fall 2016; Spring 2017; Spring 2019)

   Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, USA

2. GEOS 405: Environmental Geosciences (Fall 2018)

   Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, USA

3. Physics 1051 − General Physics Laboratory (Fall 2011 - 2014)

   Department of Physics, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

4. Physics 1020 − General Physics Laboratory (Fall 2011 - 2014)

   Department of Physics, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

Journal Publications

1. Kurtakoti, P, Veneziani, M, Stoessel, A,Weijer, W, Maltrud, M. “On the Generation of Weddell Sea Polynyas in a High-Resolution Earth System Model." Journal of Climate 34.7 (2021): 2491-2510

2. Kurtakoti, P., Veneziani, M., Stössel, A., & Weijer, W. (2018). “Preconditioning and Formation of Maud Rise Polynyas in a High-Resolution Earth System Model”. Journal of Climate, 31(23), 9659-9678. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0392.1

3. Pandey, V. K., & Kurtakoti, P. (2014). “Evaluation of GODAS Using RAMA Mooring Observations from the Indian Ocean”. Marine Geodesy, 37(1), 14-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490419.2013.859642

4. Weijer, W, Haine, T.W.N. Siddiqui, A.H, Cheng, W, Veneziani, M, Kurtakoti,P. “Interactions between the Arctic and the AMOC: A Review." Oceanography 35.3/4 (2022): 118-127. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27182704

5. Kurtakoti, P., Weijer, W., Veneziani, M., Rasch, P., Verma, T. “Compensation between Poleward Atmospheric and Oceanic Heat Transports in CMIP6 Climate Simulations" Journal of Climate, In Revision (2023).