Robert H. Weisberg
Distinguished University Professor
Physical Oceanography
Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, 1975
Office Phone: (727) 553-1568
Email: weisberg@usf.edu
CV: View PDF
Visit Lab Website
Research Interests
Dr. Weisberg is an experimental physical oceanographer engaged in ocean circulation and ocean-atmosphere interaction studies in the tropics, on continental shelves, and in estuaries. His research presently emphasizes the West Florida Continental Shelf (WFS) and the interactions that occur between the shelf and the deep-ocean and between the shelf and the estuaries. Through his Ocean Circulation Group he maintains a coordinated program of real-time, in-situ measurements, analyses, and numerical circulation models aimed at describing and understanding the processes that determine WFS water properties. Applications include harmful algal blooms, fisheries, hurricane storm surge and other topics of societal concern. Observations consist of moorings (some with real time telemetry) for surface meteorology, water column currents and temperature/salinity, and waves; HF-radar for surface currents; profilers and gliders (in collaboration with the CMS-COT) for 3D water properties; analyses of satellite data for SST, SSH, and geostrophic currents; and surface drifters. Models consist of WFS regional applications of ROMS nested in HYCOM (to include WFS/deep-ocean interactions) and FVCOM (to include WFS/estuary interactions) and sub-regional FVCOM applications to individual estuaries. Additional FVCOM applications, making use of the model’s high resolution and flooding/drying capabilities, are for coastal inundation by hurricane storm surge.
Selected Publications
Weisberg, R.H. and R. He (2003). Local and deep-ocean forcing contributions to anomalous water properties on the West Florida Shelf. J. Geophys. Res., 108, C6, 15, doi:10.1029/2002JC001407.
Weisberg, R.H., R. He, Y. Liu, and J.I. Virmani (2005). West Florida shelf circulation on synoptic, seasonal, and inter-annual time scales, in Circulation in the Gulf of Mexico, W. Sturges and A. Lugo-Fernandez, eds., AGU monograph series, Geophysical Monograph 161, 325-347.
Weisberg, R.H. and L. Zheng (2006). Circulation of Tampa Bay driven by buoyancy, tides, and winds, as simulated using a finite volume coastal ocean model. J. Geophys. Res., 111, C01005, doi:10.1029/2005JC003067.
Virmani, J. I., and R. H. Weisberg (2006), The 2005 hurricane season: An echo of the past or a harbinger of the future?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L05707, doi:10.1029/2005GL025517.
Weisberg, R.H. and L. Zheng (2006). A simulation of the hurricane Charley storm surge and its breach of North Captiva Island, Florida Scientist, 69, 152-165
Liu, Y. and R.H. Weisberg (2007). Ocean currents and sea surface heights estimated across the West Florida Shelf, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 37, 1697-1713.
Mayer, D.A., J.I. Virmani, and R.H. Weisberg (2007), Velocity comparisons from upward and downward acoustic Doppler current profilers on the West Florida Shelf, J. Atm. Ocean Tech., 24, 1950-1960.
Barth, A., A. Alvera-Azcárate, and R.H. Weisberg (2008). Assimilation of High-Frequency Radar Currents in a Nested Model of the West Florida Shelf, Jour. Geophys. Res., 113, C08033, doi:101029/2007JC004585.
Weisberg, R. H., and L. Zheng (2008), Hurricane storm surge simulations comparing three-dimensional with two-dimensional formulations based on an Ivan-like storm over the Tampa Bay, Florida region, J. Geophys. Res., 113, C12001, doi:10.1029/2008JC005115.
Alvera-Azcárate, A., A. Barth, and R.H. Weisberg (2009). A nested model of the Cariaco Basin (Venezuela): description of the basin's interior hydrography and interactions with the open ocean. Ocean Dynamics (special issue GODAE Coastal and Shelf Seas Working Group), doi10.1007/s10236-008-0169-y, 59, 97-120.
Weisberg, R.H., A. Barth, A. Alvera-Azcárate, and L. Zheng (2009). A coordinated coastal ocean observing and modeling system for the West Florida Shelf, Harmful Algae., 8, 585-598.
Alvera-Azcárate, A., A. Barth, and R.H. Weisberg. (2009). The surface circulation of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico as inferred from satellite altimetry. Jour. Phys. Oceanogr., 39, 640-657.
Virmani, J.I., and R.H. Weisberg (2009), Fish effects on ocean current observations in the Cariaco basin, Jour. Geophys. Res., 114, C03028, doi:10.1029/2008JC004889.
