ABOUT US

Physical Oceanography Group - University of Málaga

RNM 137

| Junta de Andalucía

General Information

Group leader

Jesús García Lafuente glafuente@ctima.uma.es

Contact

(+34) 952 13 27 21 | (+34) 952 13 13 55
http://oceano.uma.es
ETSI Telecomunicación, Dpto. de Física Aplicada II, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071 Málaga

Presentation

The Physical Oceanography Group of the University of Malaga (GOFIMA) was created in 1990. The focus of its research is the oceanic region of southern Spain, the Alboran Sea, Gulf of Cadiz and, particularly, the Strai of Gibraltar. New lines of investigation have been incorporated to GOFIMA such as the study of coastal processes and estuaries or the identification of regional climatic indices of the Mediterranean Sea to be correlated to observations of the Mediterranean outflow collected at the westernmost gateway of the Strait of Gibraltar.

GOFIMA belongs to Plan Andaluz de Investigación, a regional program of R+D+I (research group RNM137) and has been participating in funded National and European projects since long ago. It collaborates with many other research groups whose focus of interest is the aforementioned area.

Members

Group leader

Jesús García Lafuente

Position: Cathedratic Professor | Group Leader
Qualification: PhD in Physics Science | Physics Degree
E-mail: glafuente@ctima.uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 27 21
Office: 1.2.4 1 ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Biotechnology and Blue Development (IBYDA)

Senior Members

Francisco Criado Aldeanueva

Position: Cathedratic Professor
Qualification: PhD in Physics Science by the University of Malaga | Physics Degree
E-mail: fcriado@uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 28 49
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Ocean Engineering Research (IIO)

Javier Delgado Cabello

Position: University Professor
Qualification: PhD in Physics Science by the University of Granada | Physics Degree
E-mail: jdcabello@uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 28 49
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Biotechnology and Blue Development (IBYDA)

José Carlos Sánchez Garrido

Position: University Professor
Qualification: PhD in Physics Science by the University of Granada | Mathematics Degree
E-mail: jcsanchez@ctima.uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 27 23
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Biotechnology and Blue Development (IBYDA)

Researchers

Cristina Naranjo Rosa

Position: Interim Substitute Professor
Qualification: PhD by the University of Malaga | Marine Science Degree
E-mail: cnaranjo@ctima.uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 28 49
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Biotechnology and Blue Development (IBYDA)

Concepción Calero Quesada

Position: Interim Substitute Professor
Qualification: Physics Degree
E-mail: conchi.calero@ctima.uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 28 49
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Ocean Engineering Research (IIO)

Javier Soto Navarro

Position: Hired to a research project
Qualification: PhD by the University of Malaga | Physics Degree
E-mail: javiersoto@uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 27 23
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Biotechnology and Blue Development (IBYDA)

Simone Sammartino

Position: Hired to a research project
Qualification: PhD in Marine Science and Engineering | Environmental Science Degree
E-mail: ssammartino@ctima.uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 28 49
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Ocean Engineering Research (IIO)

Irene Nadal Arizo

Position: Hired to a research project
Qualification: Master degree by the Polytechnic University of Valencia | Marine Science Degree
E-mail: irenenadal@ctima.uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 28 49
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Biotechnology and Blue Development (IBYDA)

Pablo Muñoz López

Position: Hired to a research project
Qualification: Master degree by the University of Granada | Physics Degree
E-mail: pablomlo@uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 28 49
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Biotechnology and Blue Development (IBYDA)

Jorge López Parages

Position: Postdoctoral researcher
Qualification: PhD in Physics Science by the Complutense University of Madrid | Physics Degree
E-mail: parages@uma.es
Telephone: (+34) 952 13 28 49
Office: 2.3.5B ETSI Telecommunication Engineering
Institute: Institute of Biotechnology and Blue Development (IBYDA)

Earlier members

Antonio Sánchez Roman

Qualification: PhD by the University of Malaga | Marine Science Degree
E-mail: antonio.sanchez@ctima.uma.es

Jorge Del Rio Vera

Qualification: PhD in Telecommunications Engineering
E-mail: jorge.del.rio.vera@gmail.com

Elisa Bruque Pozas

Qualification: Civil engineer
E-mail: elisabruque@uma.es

Research topics

Operational oceanography

The developement of an operacional system in the Strait of Gibraltar is a challenging task due to the broad fan of phenomena acting at different time scales. Energetic internal waves of short period, subinertial flows induced by strong storms, and seasonal fluctuations of the mean flow interact each other leading to a complex and nonlinear dynamics difficult to predict. This research line has been recently incorporated with the collaboration of Puertos del Estado and the Italian agency for new technologies, energy, and sustainable economic development (ENEA).

Environmental influence on marine ecosystems

To disentangle the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on marine species, the so-called end-to-end model-based strategy has received increasing attention in the last years. This strategy includes all major relevant processes in the system: physics (hydrodynamics), lower trophic levels (nutrient-plankton), and upper trophic levels (fish). The latter (fish model) is sometimes based on the explicit representation of individual organisms (individual-based models; hereafter IBM) in such a way that it can address questions where individual variability, local interactions, and adaptive behavior are essential. This modeling approach has been developed during the last years to better understand the response of small pelagic species (anchovy, sardine and sardinella) to the environment in the Canary Current Upwelling System and the Alboran Sea.

Numerical modelling of internal waves in stratified straits

In highly stratified environments such as the strait of Gibraltar where bottom topography is very irregular and currents (particularly tidal currents) are remarkable, flow-topography interaction gives rise to important and appealing internal features among which large-amplitude, short-period internal waves are the most outstanding. In year 2006, GOFIMA started investigating such phenomena by means of both experimental and numerical approaches, and their influence in the long-term exchange.

Numerical simulation of the water mass exchange through the Strait of Gibraltar as resource of renewable energies

The strength and relative uni-directionality in some places of marine currents in the Strait of Gibraltar are asessed as potential source of renewable energy by means of wind-mill technology. The research is funded by the regional government of Junta de Andalucía within the Excelence Projects program.

Sea level variations in the Mediterranean Sea and climate forcing

NO TEXT AVAILABLE

Water mass circulation in the Andalusian Littoral

NO TEXT AVAILABLE

Mesoscale processes in the Alboran Sea and the Gulf of Cadiz: Oceanography in the continental shelf

NO TEXT AVAILABLE

Water exchange through the Strait of Gibraltar

Straits connecting semi-enclosed seas with the open ocen are key sites to determine the basin-scale properties as they are topographic constraints for the ventilation of deep/bottom waters. The different forces driving the exchange and its variability are investigated within this research line, which is funded by the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación) under the INGRES projects.

Scientific-technical services

Characterization of marine processes important for the port activities.
Analyze and anticipate the consequences of human activities in the Mediterranean Sea.
Numerical simulation for the deployment of renewable energies in a marine environment.
Oceanographic coupling between estuaries and continental shelf.
Data analysis, scientific visualization and CGI animation

Equipment

ADCP Continental by NORTEK AS | 2 units
ADCP Signature 500 by NORTEK AS | 1 unit
ADCP Signature 1000 by NORTEK AS | 1 unit
Subsurface high-frequency ADCP buoy model MF-45 by Flotation Technology | 2 units
CT SBE37-SMP by Sea-Bird Electronics | 3 units
Currentmeter model AQUADOPP by NORTEK AS | 1 unit
Currentmeter model AQUADOPP DW by NORTEK AS | 1 unit
Acoustic release model OCEANO2500 Universal by iXsea | 3 units
Acoustic release model OCEANO500 Universal by iXsea | 1 unit
Deck unit model TT801 by iXsea | 1 unit
Subsurface mooring monitoring beacon SMM500 by SiS | 2 units
Subsurface mooring monitoring beacon XMA-7500 by Xeos Tech | 1 unit