Oliver Thiele

I am currently in the first year of my PhD in Physical Oceanography. My research focuses on the dynamics of oxygen in shallow, stratified waters, with coastal areas near Rostock serving as a case study.  A recent example of such (quite drastic) oxygen dynamics is the fish kill along parts of the Baltic Sea coast, which was most likely triggered by short-term oxygen depletion (see the news and fact sheet).

In order to gain a better understanding of oxygen dynamics in shallow water, I make use of instruments such as microstructure probes, ADCPs and eddy covariance systems. This data is being collected as part of the interdisciplinary S2B (Shore To Basin) project, and will be supplemented by biological parameters such as the consumption and production rates of sediment and the water column, as well as other potentially important parameters. The aim is to derive an understanding of the underlying processes from the measurement data, e.g. by creating an oxygen budget.
In future, models such as GOTM/GETM could also be employed to this end.