World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Award Badge
Earth Science
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Earth Science

D-Index
93
Citations
35704
World Ranking
212
National Ranking
108

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Earth Science in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Earth Science in United States Leader Award

Overview

Carl Wunsch is affiliated with Harvard University in the United States. Their research primarily concentrates on Earth and Planetary Sciences and Environmental Science, with a substantial focus on Oceanography and Global and Planetary Change. Additional subfields of their work include Atmospheric Science, Environmental Chemistry, and Anthropology.

The main topics addressed in their research encompass Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes, Climate Variability and Models, Geology and Paleoclimatology Research, Ocean Waves and Remote Sensing, Geophysics and Gravity Measurements, Marine and Coastal Ecosystems, and Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena.

They have contributed to numerous scientific publications, with recent papers including the following:

  • Is the Ocean Speeding Up? Ocean Surface Energy Trends (2020), Journal of Physical Oceanography
  • The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and its Hypothetical Collapse (2022), Tellus A Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography
  • Advance in global ocean acoustics (2020), Science
  • Can oceanic flows be heard? Abyssal melodies (2022), The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
  • A Simplified Ocean Physics? Revisiting Abyssal Recipes (2023), Journal of Physical Oceanography

Their frequent coauthors include Daniel E. Amrhein, Olivier Marchal, Gaël Forget, Fabien Roquet, and Sarah Williamson.

Their research has been published primarily in the following venues:

  • Journal of Physical Oceanography
  • Tellus A Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography
  • Progress In Oceanography
  • Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
  • Science

Best Publications

  • Abyssal recipes II: energetics of tidal and wind mixing

    Walter Munk;Carl Wunsch

  • VERTICAL MIXING, ENERGY, AND THE GENERAL CIRCULATION OF THE OCEANS

    Carl Wunsch;Raffaele Ferrari

  • Improved estimates of global ocean circulation, heat transport and mixing from hydrographic data

    Alexandre Ganachaud;Carl Wunsch

  • Ocean Circulation Kinetic Energy: Reservoirs, Sources, and Sinks

    Raffaele Ferrari;Carl Wunsch

  • The Ocean Circulation Inverse Problem

    Carl Wunsch

  • Ocean Acoustic Tomography

    Walter Munk;Peter Worcester;Carl Wunsch;James F. Lynch

  • Ocean acoustic tomography: a scheme for large scale monitoring

    Walter Munk;Carl Wunsch

  • ECCO version 4: an integrated framework for non-linear inverse modeling and global ocean state estimation

    G. Forget;J.-M. Campin;P. Heimbach;P. Heimbach;C. N. Hill

  • The North Atlantic general circulation west of 50°W determined by inverse methods

    Carl Wunsch

  • An Eddy-Permitting Southern Ocean State Estimate

    Matthew R. Mazloff;Patrick Heimbach;Carl Wunsch

  • Ocean Acoustic Tomograpthy: Notation

    Walter Munk;Peter Worcester;Carl Wunsch

  • An estimate of global ocean circulation and heat fluxes

    Alison M. Macdonald;Alison M. Macdonald;Carl Wunsch

  • Atmospheric loading and the oceanic “inverted barometer” effect

    Carl Wunsch;Detlef Stammer

  • Two transatlantic sections: meridional circulation and heat flux in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean

    Dean Roemmich;Carl Wunsch

  • The Interpretation of Short Climate Records, with Comments on the North Atlantic and Southern Oscillations

    Carl Wunsch

  • Global ocean circulation during 1992-1997, estimated from ocean observations and a general circulation model

    D Stammer;C Wunsch;R Giering;C Eckert

  • The Vertical Partition of Oceanic Horizontal Kinetic Energy

    Carl Wunsch

  • Practical global oceanic state estimation

    Carl Wunsch;Patrick Heimbach

  • Large-Scale Ocean Heat and Freshwater Transports during the World Ocean Circulation Experiment

    Alexandre Ganachaud;Carl Wunsch

  • The Work Done by the Wind on the Oceanic General Circulation

    Carl Wunsch

Frequent Co-Authors

Patrick Heimbach
Patrick Heimbach The University of Texas at Austin
Walter Munk
Walter Munk University of California, San Diego
Detlef Stammer
Detlef Stammer Universität Hamburg
Rui M. Ponte
Rui M. Ponte Atmospheric and Environmental Research
Dimitris Menemenlis
Dimitris Menemenlis California Institute of Technology
Peter F. Worcester
Peter F. Worcester University of California, San Diego
Bruce D. Cornuelle
Bruce D. Cornuelle University of California, San Diego
Peter John Huybers
Peter John Huybers Harvard University
Jochem Marotzke
Jochem Marotzke Max Planck Society
Ichiro Fukumori
Ichiro Fukumori California Institute of Technology

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

Exploring online degrees related to Earth Science can open diverse career pathways in fields such as environmental consulting, geological research, and resource management. While degrees in Earth Science are specialized, many students also consider complementary fields that enhance their skillset and employability.

For instance, language proficiency can be a valuable asset in global environmental work. Programs like the online degrees in Spanish offer affordable and efficient routes to acquiring these skills, which are often in demand in multinational organizations.

Veterans looking to transition into Earth Science or related sectors may find tailored support in veteran-friendly programs. The veteran friendly online Spanish degree programs provide flexible options that accommodate military commitments and make education more accessible.

Creative and analytical skills are equally important, with some students exploring degrees like an MFA online to enhance their communication and presentation abilities, useful in public outreach and educational roles within Earth Science.

Additionally, management expertise is crucial for leadership roles. A strong example is the best online human resource management masters degree, which prepares graduates to lead teams and manage organizational resources effectively in any science-driven enterprise.

Best Scientists Citing Carl Wunsch

Trending Scientists