UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 2, Page 5
September 9, 1993
Researcher's oceanic studies subject of wide global interest

     Xiao-Hai Yan, associate professor in the College of Marine Studies,
monitors the oceans of the world from Robinson Hall without leaving campus.
     The researcher describes his work as "taking the ocean's pulse from
space" by interpreting data on ocean circulation, temperature, surface
elevation and air-sea interactions gathered by satellite and on-site
instruments.
     Global in scope, his research has generated worldwide interest and
attention.
     In Russia, Canada, China, Peru and Japan, as well as the United
States, articles about Yan's research have appeared in leading newspapers,
and in professional journals, including in this country: Science, the
Journal of Geophysical Research and Deep-Sea Research, The New York Times,
Time, National Geographic and The Christian Science Monitor.
     His research also has been highlighted on television, including ABC
News, CNN and the BBC in Great Britain.
     Images showing the temperatures of water of the world's oceans,
generated by Yan at the University's Center for Remote Sensing-directed by
Vic Klemas, professor of marine studies- have appeared in Science Year and
The World Book Year Book.
     Through computer modeling, Yan interprets data collected by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space shuttle
Columbia, from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) and satellite networks.
     Satellite sensors measure the wind and infrared instruments monitor
temperature, while time-series photographs taken from the satellite can be
used to study ocean dynamics. Data also is collected by research vessels
and ocean platforms.
     One phenomenon studied extensively by Yan is El Nino, the major
climate anomaly and planetary oscillation caused by the global interactions
of the ocean and atmosphere, which occurs in the Pacific every four to five
years and brings about extensive changes in the climate worldwide.
     Yan also is involved in studying the Delaware Bay, focusing on such
areas as ocean circulation, as well as coastal, estuary currents and
surface currents.
     His research is funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA, NOAA
and the Office of Naval Research.
     A graduate of Tongchi University in Shanghai, Yan served as a remote
sensing physicist for the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
     He received his doctorate from the State University of New York at
Stony Brook, followed by post-doctoral work at the Scripps Institute of
Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego, and came to the
University in 1990.
                                        -Sue Swyers Moncure