On July 8, 2025, Dr. Christian Buckingham, a scientist from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Southampton, and former Assistant Research Professor at UMass Dartmouth (SMAST), visited the Tandon Lab. The visit brought together a range of expertise, sparking engaging discussions across diverse research areas. Dr. Buckingham presented his recent work on the development of reflectometry-based remote sensing devices, and members of the Tandon Lab shared their ongoing research, spanning observational and modeling studies in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as well as more fundamental theoretical work.

After offering insightful suggestions on the graduate students’ research, Dr. Tandon, Dr. Buckingham, and Dr. Patibandla (Postdoctoral Researcher at the Tandon Lab) spent additional time exploring new frontiers in oceanographic science and discussing opportunities for future collaboration between Dr. Buckingham and the Tandon Lab.

It was a day well spent!

(From left) High school intern Lia Huang, Debarshi Sarkar, Siddhant Kerhalkar, Parth Sastry, Dr. Amit Tandon, Dr. Christian Buckingham and Dr. Ramana Patibandla, in front of SMAST-East (@photo by Adriano Giangiardi)

Lia Huang, a junior at John L. Miller Great Neck North High School, is a summer intern in the Tandon Lab. Her work contributes to a larger project focused on developing acoustic sensors on global drifters to measure precipitation, led by Dr. Tandon in collaboration with Dr. John Buck from the Electrical Engineering Department. She plans to finally submit her work to the Regeneron Science Talent Search competition.

Lia visited the Tandon Lab during the week of July 7 and participated in a coastal mooring retrieval and redeployment cruise with Dr. Buck on July 9, which lasted about six hours. The experience provided valuable exposure to oceanographic fieldwork and the practical aspects of conducting research at sea.

Mooring turnaround cruise on July 9: Lia Huang and Dr. John Buck (from left) on Fairhaven harbor after the cruise.

To better understand how air-sea interactions over the Indian Ocean influence monsoon dynamics, Debarshi Sarkar (PhD candidate from the Tandon Lab) and Ersen’S Joseph (full-time engineer at WHOI and master’s student in the Tandon Lab) participated in the third cruise of the ASTraL (Air-Sea Transition Layers) /EKAMSAT (Enhancing Knowledge of the Arabian Sea Marine Environment through Science and Advanced Training) field program.

Research Vessel Thomas G. Thompson

This expedition was conducted in two legs: the first (Leg-1) from May 3 to May 15, and Leg-2 (which recently ended) from May 19 to June 19, with additional time allotted for mobilization and demobilization. Debarshi and Ersen’S was part of Leg-1, and for both legs, the R/V Thomas G. Thompson (R/V TGT) departed from the deep-sea port at Phuket, Thailand. The leg-1 focused on a region spanning latitudes 11°N to 15°N and extending longitudinally from 85.5°E to the edge of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Track of R/V TGT for Leg-1 ASTraL/EKAMSAT 2025

The key objective of Leg-1 was to locate a ‘mini warm pool’ in the Bay of Bengal (A region with warming temperatures) using satellite data. This would serve as the focal point for the field experiment. This region would need to be in a zone of weak current and away from the EEZ to minimize the drift of the OARBITER buoy, which was scheduled for deployment by NRL during Leg 2.

The science crew (from left): Orson Hyde (engineer from University of Notre Dame), Charlotte Begouen Demeaux (PhD student from University of Maine), Carlyn Schmidgall (PhD student from University of Washington, Seattle), Chief Scientist Dr. J. Thomas Farrar (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute), Dr. Laurent Grare (Engineer from Scripps Insititute of Oceanography), Ersen’S Joseph & Debarshi Sarkar

During Leg-1. We deployed 3 sea gliders and 4 wave gliders to collect high-resolution upper-ocean data. Drifters, which were capable of measuring winds, waves, and SST, were released across a wide area to ensure a large spatial distribution. Apart from the drifting assets, R/V TGT was equipped with a flux tower for measuring meteorological conditions, a ceilometer for cloud and aerosol properties, a LIDAR for vertically profiling wind structure, an ADCP for subsurface currents, and a thermosalinograph for temperature and salinity at a single depth. These instruments were kept on throughout the time we were outside international waters. The science team also took turns operating the Underway CTD (UCTD) system to measure the vertical profiles of temperature and salinity along the cruise track. The second objective of the cruise was to calibrate NASA’s PACE satellite measurements using in-situ data radiometry, optical, flow cytometry, and pySAS data.

Wave Glider Ida right after deployment

Chief Scientist Dr. J. Tom Farrar inspects a sea glider moments before deployment.

Sunset over the Bay of Bengal, with wave gliders ready on deck the evening before deployment.

The Leg-1 experienced calm ocean surface conditions (characterized by swells and weak wind waves) and mild atmospheric conditions (with weak winds and patchy non-convective cumulus clouds). Aside from a few brief convective downpours, the overall sea state remained favorable, enabling smoother operations and more consistent data collection.

Dr. Laurent Grare demonstrates to the science crew how to remotely operate the wave gliders.

Being the smaller science team, each member juggled multiple responsibilities. UCTD schedulers made a concerted effort to ensure everyone got time to rest. Debarshi’s primary roles included overseeing data from the ship’s sensors, wave gliders, and UCTD operations. In addition, he processed satellite winds, SST and sea level data to assist the chief scientist in optimizing UCTD deployment waypoints. Ersen’S assisted Dr. Laurent Grare on the engineering side, helping to assemble and ensure the smooth operation of the wave gliders during the cruise.

Debarshi and Dr. Laurent Grare on deck manually operating an underway CTD profiler during their shift.

Looking Ahead

This cruise was made possible through the collaborative efforts of a broad team of scientists from the U.S. and India, whose intellectual contributions helped shape EKAMSAT’s scientific vision. Special thanks go to the captain, crew, and port staff of the R/V TGT for their professionalism and support. Observations from both legs of the campaign will be crucial for understanding how air-sea coupling influences the formation, evolution, and eventual dissipation of the Indian Ocean mini warm pool, a poorly sampled and less understood oceanic feature that is thought to influence the Indian Monsoon season.

From June 7 to June 13, the Gordon Research Conference and Seminar on Coastal Ocean Dynamics was held at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire. This conference brought together scientists from around the world to explore pressing questions in oceanography, spanning topics from the physics and biology of tidally governed estuaries and lagoons to the processes controlling glacier and sea ice melt in high-latitude regions.

Debarshi and Parth, both PhD candidates from the Tandon Lab at UMass Dartmouth, participated in the conference, presenting posters based on their ongoing research. Debarshi presented “On the Accuracy of Air-Sea Heat Fluxes in the Arabian Sea Using OMNI Moorings,” while Parth showcased his work titled “Trans-Isthmic Jets and Eddy Evolution in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.” Their presentations sparked insightful discussions and received valuable feedback from the broader ocean science community.

Parth in front of his poster at GRC-2025

Debarshi in front of his poster at GRC-2025

From posters and sessions on cutting-edge ocean instrumentation to the complexities of upper ocean instabilities leading to turbulence, the conference provided a vibrant platform for learning and collaboration. For Debarshi and Parth, the week proved to be both productive and informative, deepening their understanding of the latest developments in coastal ocean dynamics and expanding their professional network.

For this academic year, the mechanical engineering (MNE) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department joined their capstone programs. The capstone program brings together the technical and interpersonal skills needed for a student, in a team environment, to successfully plan, complete, and deliver a significant engineering project to a real customer. The culmination of this was the ECE and MNE Joint Senior Design Presentation Day held on May 1, 2025.

Team Aurelia, advised by Prof. Amit Tandon and Patrick Pasteris, and comprised of undergraduate students Ben Claxton, Eli Kroll, Shane Mercuri, and Jacob Tavares, with team lead James Bonnell bagged third place at the event. Their project involved improving the existing drive system on the Aurelia Upper Ocean Profiler – improving the depth capability and increasing operational life. They worked on testing out different motors for their power consumption and on designing a parking brake to install the profiler at depth without requiring active power. They also designed a variable gearbox to improve torque from the piston and increase the depth capability of the profiler.

Congratulations on this achievement to everyone involved!

[Left to Right – Eli Kroll (ECE), Jacob Tavares (ECE), James Bonnel (MNE; team lead), Shane Mercuri (MNE), and Ben Claxton(MNE)] standing next to their poster

On the day of the 3MT thesis competition finale (April 10, 2025), Prof. Tandon was awarded with the ‘2025 Outstanding Graduate Faculty Research Mentor‘ prize for his commitment to working with graduate students in research, knowledge creation and scholarship.

Colleagues and students gathered on the university’s main campus to honor his contributions to academia.

Congratulations Dr. Tandon!

(From Left) Dr. Ramana Patibandla, Debarshi Sarkar, Dr. Yanlai Chen, Dr. Amit Tandon, Siddhant Kerhalkar, Dr. Agata Piffer-Braga & Parth Sastry

Parth Sastry and Debarshi Sarkar recently participated in the 3 MT thesis competition held in Grand Reading Room at UMass Dartmouth. Organized by Office of the Associate Provost for Graduate Studies, Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a research communication competition which challenges graduate research students (PhD and Masters by Research) to present a compelling oration on their thesis topic and its significance in just three minutes.  The competition develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of research students’ capacity to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Parth talked about his work on simulations of eddies in the eastern tropical Pacific and how they impact oxygen transport. Debarshi talked his research on biases in reanalysis products, their importance and how they affect the summer monsoon over the Indian subcontinent. It was an educational and a challenging experience for them to condense their research into an easily digestible, short, three-minute segment.

Debarshi presenting his poster.

Parth presenting his poster.

A new paper led by Dr. Ashish Soni from IITM Pune with Dr. Tandon as a co-author highlights groundbreaking research on black carbon aerosols. This study, conducted in the Arabian Sea after the passage of cyclone Biparjoy collaboratively by Indian and USA scientific teams in the EKAMSAT science fieldwork conducted onboard R/V Roger Revelle in 2023, reveals that deep waters are a significant source of these black carbon aerosols. 

Congratulations Dr. Tandon!

More about the paper: Here

On March 26, 2025, the Inter-campus Marine Science (IMS) of University of Massachusetts (UMass) hosted the annual symposium at the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST). The event brought together students and faculties from various UMass campuses to showcase their latest findings and innovations in marine science, in forms of posters, lightning talks and plenary talks.

This year, all the members of the Tandon lab participated in the symposium. PhD student Parth Sastry presented a lightning talk and a poster on his work in idealized anticyclonic eddy simulations with applications to the eastern tropical Pacific. The poster was awarded a second runner-up position in the event. Congratulations Parth!

PhD student Debarshi Sarkar, presented his work as a poster and lightning talk on air-sea heat flux biases in reanalysis products during the months of spring in the Arabian Sea. Apart from participating in the symposium, Debarshi was also a member of the organizing committee which made the symposium possible. PhD students Siddhant Kerhalkar presented a poster on his work in tropical cyclone (TC) Biparjoy’s wake recovery. This article was published in Geophysical Research Letter recently (here). Postdoc Dr. Ramana Patibandla also presented a poster on his work in near inertial wave propagation in curved fronts.

Note: All the posters are available online (Posters – 2025 IMS Research Symposium).

Parth Sastry with his poster at IMS-Symposium 2025

Debarshi Sarkar with his poster at IMS-Symposium 2025

Dr. Ramana Patibandla with his poster at IMS-Symposium 2025

Siddhant Kerhalkar with his poster at IMS-Symposium 2025

Dr. Amit Tandon and Tandon Lab members Debarshi, Siddhant, and Ramana attended the EKAMSAT (Enhancing Knowledge of the Arabian Sea Marine Environment through Science and Advanced Technology) update meeting held on March 6–7, 2025. The meeting was hosted by Dr. Aneesh Subramaniam at the University of Colorado, Boulder. This two-day intensive meeting included a series of back-to-back sessions, where researchers from various collaborating universities and institutes shared updates on their work. These talks helped everyone stay on the same page and move closer to the goals of the EKAMSAT program.

Siddhant presented a 10-minute talk titled “Impacts of Salinity Stratification on SST in the Northern Indian Ocean Warm Pool” and Debarshi presented two 10-minute talks on air-sea heat flux biases in reanalysis products and the submesoscale variabilities in air-sea flux parameters during the time of monsoon transition.

Siddhant Kerhalkar presenting his talk.

Debarshi presenting one of his talks.

The meeting concluded with participants dividing into groups based on shared research interests. Each group worked on summarizing the main scientific findings from the talks and discussions and identifying key questions that still need to be addressed.