Physical Oceanographer
Dr Will Hobbs
Dr Hobbs’ main research interest is in understanding the physics behind observed changes in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic climate system, and whether they can be explained by natural processes or are due to human influence. Additionally, he works on problems related to the global energy balance.
He gained a PhD in 2009 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied the role of the atmosphere in driving large-scale variability of Southern Ocean sea ice. Following his PhD, Dr Hobbs was a post-doctoral researcher in the Ocean Circulation group at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His work at JPL involved combing satellite data with Argo float data to estimate the strength and heat transport of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This ground-breaking time series is regularly updated and is widely used in the AMOC community.
He came to Hobart in 2012 to take up a position in Ocean Detection and Attribution with the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).
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Current Research
Dr Hobbs has been with the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre since March 2015, continuing his work on Ocean Detection and Attribution with a focus on the Southern Ocean.
He is particularly interested in observed trends in Southern Ocean sea ice cover, and improving climate model estimates of the high latitude Southern Hemisphere circulation.
Selected Publications
Hobbs, W.R., N.L. Bindoff and M.N. Raphael (2014): New perspectives on observed and simulated Antarctic sea ice extent trends using optimal fingerprinting techniques; J. Climate. DOI:dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00367.1
Raphael, M.N. and W.R. Hobbs (2014): The influence of the large scale atmospheric circulation on Antarctic sea ice during ice advance and retreat seasons. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(14), 5037-5045. DOI: 10.1002/2014GL060365.
Hobbs W.R. and J. Willis (2013): Detection of an observed 135-year ocean temperature change from limited data. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(10), 2252-2258 DOI: 10.1002/grl.50370.
Hobbs, W.R. and J. Willis (2012): Midlatitude North Atlantic heat transport: A time series based on satellite and drifter data. Journal Geophysical Research-Oceans, 117, C01008. DOI: 10.1029/2011JC007039. (This paper was featured in EOS ‘Research Spotlight’, EOS, 93 (8), 2012.)
Hobbs, W.R. and M.N. Raphael (2010): The Pacific zonal asymmetry and its influence on Southern Hemisphere sea ice variability. Antarctic Science, 22 (05), 559-571. DOI: 10.1017/S0954102010000283.
Authorised by the CEO of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre October 2019.
The ACE CRC was established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program.
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