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Matthew Archer

Photo of Matthew Archer

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S M/S 300-329

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

+1 (818) 354-2315

Curriculum Vitae:

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Website:

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Member of:

Ocean Circulation And Air Sea Interaction

Technologist

Employed By

Caltech/JPL

Biography

Matt Archer is a physical oceanographer working on NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission. He’s interested in oceanic variability at the submesoscale (100’s meters to 10’s kilometers), which significantly impacts the large-scale ocean and atmosphere, and ultimately the climate system. As a technologist, he contributed to the preparation and evaluation of SWOT, prior to and following its launch in December 2022. Now he explores science questions made possible by SWOT’s unprecedented high-resolution measurements.

Matt moved to JPL in 2018 from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, where he worked with a variety of observational platforms to investigate the dynamics of the East Australian Current, and how it influences the shelf waters of eastern Australia. He obtained his PhD from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami.

Education

  • Ph.D., Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, USA (2016)
  • B.S., Ocean Science, 1st Class Honors, University of Plymouth, UK (2009)

Professional Experience

  • Research Technologist II at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena (2020-present)
  • Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena (Dec 2018-2020)
  • Lecturer in Physical Oceanography component of MSc course at Sydney Institute of Marine Science (2017-18)
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (2016-2018)

Research Interests

Submesoscale and mesoscale ocean variability; satellite altimetry; novel ocean observing technology; data visualization; data assimilation.

Selected Awards

  • JPL Voyager Award; JPL Team Award (SWOT CalVal) - 2025

Selected Publications

  1. Archer, M., Wang, J., Klein, P. et al. Wide-swath satellite altimetry unveils global submesoscale ocean dynamics (2025). In: Nature 640, 691–696. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08722-8
  2. Tchonang, B.C., Archer, M.R., Gopalakrishnan, G., Cornuelle, B., Mazloff, M.R., Wang, J. and Fu, L.L. (2024). Evaluation of a 4DVAR Assimilation System in the California Current at the SWOT Calibration/Validation Site. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 41(6), pp.533-549. https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-23-0112.1
  3. Suthers, I. M., Schaeffer, A., Archer, M. R., Roughan, M., Griffin, D.A., Chapman, C.C., Sloyan, B.M. and Everett, J.D. (2023), Frontal eddies provide an oceanographic triad for favorable larval fish habitat. In: Limnol Oceanogr. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12326
  4. Wang, J., Fu, L., Haines, B., Lankhorst, M., …, Archer, M. R. et al. (2022). On the development of SWOT in-situ Calibration/Validation for short-wavelength ocean topography, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology. https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-21-0039.1
  5. Archer, M. R., Tchonang, B. C., Wang, J., Fu, L-L., Gopalakrishnan, G., Cornuelle, B., Mazloff, M. (2022). ECCO-SWOT (v1): A regional implementation of the MITgcm-ECCO 4DVAR system in the California Current system for the SWOT satellite mission. In: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Technical Document (Dec 2022).
  6. Archer, M. R., Li, Z., Wang, J., & Fu, L.-L. (2022). Reconstructing fine-scale ocean variability via data assimilation of the SWOT pre-launch in situ observing system. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 127, e2021JC017362. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017362
  7. Archer, M. R., Li, Z., & Fu, L.‐L. (2020). Increasing the space‐time resolution of mapped sea surface height from altimetry. In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015878 [Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3858442]
  8. Archer, M. R., A. Schaeffer, S. R. Keating, M. Roughan, R. Holmes, & L. Siegelman (2020). Observations of submesoscale instability and frontal subduction within the mesoscale eddy field of the Tasman Sea. In: Journal of Physical Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-19-0131.1
  9. Malan, N., M. R. Archer, M. Roughan, P. Cetina-Heredia, M. Hemming, C. Rocha, A. Schaeffer, I. Suthers, E. Quieroz (2020). Eddy‐Driven Cross‐Shelf Transport in the East Australian Current Separation Zone. In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015613.
  10. Schaeffer, A., M. R. Archer, Q. Baumard, M. Roughan, & C. Kerry (2020). An assessment of the East Australian Current as a renewable energy resource. In: Journal of Marine Systems, 204, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2019.103285.
  11. Oke, P. R., M. Roughan, P. Cetina-Heredia, G. S. Pilo, K. R. Ridgway, T. Rykova, M. R. Archer, R. C. Coleman, C. G. Kerry, C. Rocha, A. Schaeffer, E. Vitarelli (2019). Revisiting the circulation of the East Australian Current: its path, separation and eddy field. In: Progress in Oceanography, 176, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2019.102139.
  12. Todd, R. E., F. Chavez, S. Clayton, S. Cravatte, M. Goes, M. Graco, X. Lin, J. Sprintall, N. Zilberman, M. R. Archer, et al. (2019). Global Perspectives on Observing Ocean Boundary Current Systems. In: Frontiers in Marine Science. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00423.
  13. Archer, M. R., S. R. Keating, M. Roughan, W. E. Johns, R. Lumkpin, F. Beron-Vera, & L. K. Shay (2018). The kinematic similarity of two western boundary currents revealed by sustained high-resolution observations. In: Geophysical Research Letters, 45 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078429.
    [This work is featured in EOS Editors Highlights.]
  14. Archer, M. R., Roughan, M., Keating, S. R., & Schaeffer, A. (2017). On the variability of the East Australian Current: Jet structure, meandering, and influence on shelf circulation. In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 122, 8464–8481. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013097.
  15. Archer, M. R., Shay, L. K., & Johns, W. E. (2017). The surface velocity structure of the Florida Current in a jet coordinate frame. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 122, 9189–208,https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013286.
  16. Archer, M. R., Shay, L. K., & Martinez-Pedraja, J. (2015). Evaluation of WERA HF Radar Observations: Currents, Winds and Waves. In: Current, Waves and Turbulence Measurements (CWTM), 2015 IEEE/OES 11th (pp. 1-9). https://doi.org/10.1109/CWTM.2015.7098148
  17. Archer, M. R., L. K. Shay, B. Jaimes, & J. Martinez-Pedraja, (2015). Observing frontal instabilities of the Florida Current using high frequency radar, In: Coastal Ocean Observing Systems, Liu, Y., H. Kerkering, R. H. Weisberg, eds. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-802022-7.00011-0.

Projects

SWOT