Group Supervisor, Physical Oceanography Group (1986-1994)
Member of Technical Staff (1981-1986)
Visiting Professor, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China (2002-2004)
Postdoctoral Associate, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1980)
Research Interests
Observation of sea level and ocean circulation using spaceborne techniques.
Selected Awards
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2019
Distinguished Alumni Award, 2017, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Distinguished Achievement Award, 2017, Chinese-American Engineers and Scientists Association of Southern California (CESASC).
COSPAR International Cooperation Medal (2010)
Member, National Academy of Engineering (2008)
Space Systems Team Award, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (2006)
NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal (2004)
Fellow, American Geophysical Union (2003)
Fellow, American Meteorological Society (2003)
Verner E. Suomi Award, American Meteorological Society (2002)
NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (1996)
Aviation Week and Space Technology Annual Laurel Award (1994)
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales Medal (1994)
Selected Publications
From a total of 122 peer-reviewed publications:
Archer, M., Z. Li, and L-L. Fu, 2020: Increasing the space-time resolution of mapped sea surface height from altimetry, J. Geophys. Res., DOI: 10.1029/2019JC015878
Fu, L-L., T. Lee, W.T. Liu, and R. Kwok, 2019: Fifty years of satellite remote sensing of the ocean, in A Century of Progress in Atmospheric and Related Sciences: Celebrating the American Meteorological Society Centennial, Meteor. Monogr., No. 59, Chapter 5, Amer. Meteor. Soc., DOI: 10.1175/AMSMONOGRAPHS-D-18-0010.1
Fu, L-L., 2016: On the decadal trend of global mean sea level and its implication on ocean heat content change, Front. Mar. Sci. 3:37. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2016.00037
Fu, L-L., and R. Morrow, 2013: Remote sensing of the global ocean circulation, in Ocean Circulation and Climate, 2nd Ed. A 21st century perspective, pp. 83-111, Siedler, G., Griffies, S., Gould, J. and Church, J. (Eds.): Academic Press.
Fu, L-L, and B.J. Haines, 2013: The challenges in long-term altimetry calibration for addressing the problem of global sea level change, 1284-1300, Adv. Space Res Volume 51, Issue 8,.
Fu, L-L., and C. Ubelmann, 2014: On the transition from profile altimeter to swath altimeter for observing global ocean surface topography, J. Ocean. Atm. Tech Vol. 31, No. 2. 560-568.
Fu, L-L., D.B. Chelton, P-Y. Le Traon, and R. Morrow, 2010: Eddy dynamics from satellite altimetry: progress and challenges, Oceanography, Vol. 23, No. 4, 14-25.
Volkov, D., L-L. Fu, and T. Lee, 2010: Mechanisms of the meridional heat transport in the Southern Ocean, Ocean Dynamaics, Vol. 60, 791-801. DOI 10.1007/s10236-010-0288-0
Volkov, D., and L-L. Fu, 2010: On the reasons for the existence and the variability of the Azores Current, Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 40, 2197-2220. DOI: 10.1175/2010JPO4326.1
Fu, L-L., 2010: Determining ocean circulation and sea level from satellite altimetry: progress and challenges, in "Oceans From Space", edited by V. Barale, J.F.R. Gower, and L. Alberotanza, 147-163, doi 10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_9, Springer, New York, 374 pp.
Fu, L-L., 2009: Pattern and velocity of propagation of the global ocean eddy variability, J. Geophys. Res., 114, C11017, doi:10.1029/2009JC005349.
Fu, L-L., and R. Ferrari, 2008: Observing oceanic submesoscale processes from space, Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 89 (48), pp. 488.
Willis, J.K., and L.-L. Fu, 2008: Combining altimeter and subsurface float data to estimate the time averaged circulation in the upper ocean, Journal of Geophysical Research., 113, C12017, doi:10.1029/2007JC004690.
Volkov, D., and L-L. Fu, 2008: The role of vorticity fluxes in the dynamics of the Zapiola Anticyclone, Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, C11015, doi:10.1029/2008JC004841.
Fu, L-L. , 2007: Intraseasonal basin modes of the equatorial Indian Ocean observed from sea surface height, wind, and temperature data, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 37, 188-202.
Fu, L.-L. , 2007: Interaction of mesoscale variability with large-scale waves in the Argentine Basin, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 37, 787-793.
Fu, L.-L. , 2006: Pathways of eddies in the South Atlantic revealed from satellite altimeter observations, Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L14610, doi:10.1029/2006GL026245.
Fu, L.-L. , 2004: Latitudinal and frequency characteristics of the westward propagation of large-scale oceanic variability, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 34, 1907-1921.
Fu, L.-L. , and R. Rodriguez, 2004: High-resolution measurement of ocean surface topography by radar interferometry for oceanographic and geophysical applications, AGU Geophysical Monograph 150, IUGG Vol. 19: "State of the Planet: Frontiers and Challenges," R.S.J. Sparks and C.J. Hawkesworth, editors, 209-224.
Fu, L.-L. , Wind-forced intraseasonal sea level variability of the extratropical Oceans, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 33, 436-449 (2003).
Fu, L.-L. , and B. Qiu, Interannual variability of the North Pacific Ocean: the roles of boundary-driven and wind-driven baroclinic Rossby waves, Journal of Geophysical Research, 107(C12), 3220, doi:10.1029/2001JC001131 (2002).