PNNL

Dr. Rob Hetland studies estuarine and coastal ocean circulation using analytical and numerical tools, focusing on better understanding and prediction of processes in the coastal ocean that control the transport and mixing of fresh water. He also applies these tools to coastal ocean ecology, particularly harmful algal blooms, eutrophication, and seasonal hypoxia. Dr. Hetland leads the COMPASS-Great Lakes Modeling project and is the principal investigator for cross-cutting activities in the Integrated Coastal Modeling (ICoM) project.

• Coastal and estuarine dynamics
• Coastal ecosystems including harmful algal blooms and hypoxia
• Coastal climate
• Submesoscale dynamics and mixing

• PhD, Physical Oceanography, Florida State University
• MS, Oceanography, The University of Maine
• BS, Physics and Mathematics, St. Olaf College

• Joint Appointment/Visiting Scholar, Texas A&M University (2022-Present)
• Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Editor

• Fulbright Senior Researcher, The Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Germany 2007-8

2021

• Qu, L., L.N. Thomas, and R.D. Hetland. (2021). “Near-inertial wave critical layers over sloping bathymetry.” Journal of Physical Oceanography, 51 (6), 1737-1756.
• Liang, J.H., J. Liu, M. Benfield, D. Justic, D. Holstein, B. Liu, R. Hetland, D. Kobashi, C. Dong, and W. Dong. (2021). “Including the effects of subsurface currents on buoyant particles in Lagrangian particle tracking models: Model development and its application to the study of riverborne plastics over the Louisiana/Texas shelf.” Ocean Modelling, 101879.
• Thyng K.M., D. Kobashi, V. Ruiz-Xomchuk, L. Qu, X. Chen, and R.D. Hetland. (2021). “Performance of offline passive tracer advection in the Regional Ocean Modeling System.” Geoscientific Model Development 14 (1), 391-407
• Ruiz-Xomchuk, V., R.D. Hetland, and L. Qu. (2021). “Small-scale variability of bottom oxygen in the northern Gulf of Mexico.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126 (1), e2020JC016279

2020

• Kobashi D. and R. Hetland. (2020). “Reproducibility and variability of submesoscale frontal eddies on a broad, low-energy shelf of freshwater influence.” Ocean Dynamics, 70 (11), 1377-1395
• Thyng, K.M., R.D. Hetland, S.A. Socolofsky, N. Fernando, E.L. Turner, C. Schoenbaechler. (2020). “Hurricane Harvey caused unprecedented freshwater inflow to Galveston Bay.” Estuaries and Coasts, 43 (7), 1836-1852
• Kealoha, A.K., K.E.F. Shamberger, S.F. DiMarco, K.M. Thyng, R.D. Hetland, D.P. Manzello, N. C. Slowey, I. C. Enochs. (2020). “Surface Water CO₂ variability in the Gulf of Mexico (1996–2017).” Scientific Reports, 10 (1), 1-13
• Qu, L. and R.D. Hetland. (2020). “Nongeostrophic Baroclinic Instability over Sloping Bathymetry: Buoyant Flow Regime.” Journal of Physical Oceanography, 50 (7), 1937-1956
• Zhang, W., R.D. Hetland, V. Ruiz-Xomchuk, S.F. DiMarco, and H. Wu. (2020) “Stratification duration and the formation of bottom hypoxia over the Texas-Louisiana shelf.” Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 238, 106711
• Cole, K.L., D.G. MacDonald, G. Kakoulaki, and R.D. Hetland (2020). “River plume source-front connectivity.” Ocean Modelling, 150, 101571
• Kealoha, A.K., S.M. Doyle, K.E.F. Shamberger, J.B. Sylvan, R.D. Hetland, and S.F. DiMarco. (2020). “Localized hypoxia may have caused coral reef mortality at the Flower Garden Banks.” Coral Reefs, 39 (1), 119-132

2019

• Qu, L. and R.D. Hetland. (2019). “Temporal resolution of wind forcing required for river plume simulations.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124, 1459–1473.
• Zhang, W., H. Wu, R.D. Hetland, and Z. Zhu. (2019). “On mechanisms controlling the seasonal hypoxia hot spots off the Changjiang River Estuary.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124, 8683– 8700.