ANA JULIA ABASCAL
Biography
Ana J. Abascal holds a PhD from the University of Cantabria (2009); Master in Sciences and Technologies for Coastal Management (2003); Master in Physical Oceanography (2002); Bachelor in Marine Sciences (1997). She has been awarded the “Premio Fundación Repsol” granted by the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain (2009) and the “Premio Extraordinario de Doctorado” from the University of Cantabria (2011).
Her research aims to prevent and reduce accidental pollution (oil and chemicall spills) and plastic pollution, promoting a sustainable development of maritime activities that contributes to accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. She is a R3 researcher, the author of more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed indexed scientific journals (h-index 17, 911 citations, source: Scopus) and has participated in more than 50 international conferences. She has led more than 10 competitive national (R&D STATE PLAN, PUBLIC-PRIVATE COLLABORATION) and international R&D projects (DG-ECHO, EMSA) as PI and has been involved in more than 20 national and international R&D projects (Horizon Europe, Interreg, ESA, Copernicus, United Nations, Inter-American Development Bank) in close collaboration with research centers and universities, multilateral organizations and international corporations in over 15 countries. She is member of national and international technological and scientific networks focused on marine environment and part of the Advisory Board and certified reviewer of several SCI journals. She is member of the Doctoral Standing Committee of the Universidad de Cantabria and has supervised 5 PhD thesis (3 in progress).
Recent work includes projects on marine litter and plastics, oil and chemical spills and the application of artificial intelligence techniques to coastal hydrodynamics and marine pollution.
RESEARCH LINES
Numerical and statistical modeling of oil and chemical spills.
Hydrodynamic modeling of currents and sea level.
Operational oceanography.
Spill risk assessment.
Accidental pollution prevention and response.
PUBLICATIONS
Martínez, A., Abascal, A.J., García, A., Aragón, G., Medina, R., 2024. Lagrangian modelling of oil concentrations at sea: A sensitivity analysis to the grid resolution and number of Lagrangian elements. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 198, 115787, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115787
Ruiz, I., Rubio, A., Abascal, A.J., Basurko O.C., 2022. Modelling floating riverine litter in the south-eastern Bay of Biscay: a regional distribution from a seasonal perspective. Ocean Sci., 18, 1703–1724, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1703-2022. 2022. IF(2021): 4.041, Q1(7/66).
Ruiz, I., Abascal, A.J., Basurko O.C., Rubio, A., 2022. Modelling the distribution of fishing-related floating marine litter within the Bay of Biscay and its marine protected areas, Environmental Pollution, (292), A, 118216, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118216. IF(2020): 8.071, D1(23/274).
Chiri, H., Abascal, A.J., Castanedo, S., 2020. Deep oil spill hazard assessment based on spatio-temporal met-ocean patterns, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 154, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111123. IF(2020): 5.553, D1(3/110).
Chiri, H., Abascal, A.J., Castanedo, S., Medina, R., 2019. Mid to long-term oil spill forecast based on logistic regression modelling of met-ocean forcings, Marine Pollution Bulletin, (146), 962-976, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.07.053. IF(2020): 5.553, D (3/110).
Núñez, P., García, A., Mazarrasa, I., Juanes, J.A., Abascal, A.J., Méndez, F., Castanedo S., Medina, R., 2019. A methodology to assess the probability of marine litter accumulation in estuaries. Marine Pollution Bulletin, (144), 309-324, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.077. IF(2019): 4.049, D1(16/225).
Mazarrasa, I., Puente, A., Núñez, P., García, A., Abascal, A.J., Juanes, J.A., 2019. Assessing the risk of marine litter accumulation in estuarine Habitats, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 144, 117-128, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.060, IF(2019): 4.049, D1(16/225).
Chiri, H., Abascal, A.J., Castanedo, S., Antolínez, J.A.A., Liu, Y., Weisberg, R.H., Medina, R., 2019. Statistical Simulation of Ocean Current Patterns using Autoregressive Logistic Regression Models: A Case Study in the Gulf of Mexico, Ocean Modelling, 136, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2019.02.010, IF(2019): 3.215, D1(8/128)
Chiri, H., Cid, A., Abascal, A.J.,García-Alba, J., García, A., Iturrioz, A.,. 2019. A high-resolution hindcast of sea level and 3D currents for Marine Renewable Energy applications: A case study in the Bay of Biscay, Renewable Energy, 134, 783-795, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.069, IF(2019): 6.274, Q1(7/44).
Abascal, A.J., Sanchez, J., Chiri, H., Ferrer, M.I., Cárdenas, M., Gallego, A., Castanedo, S., Medina, R., Alonso-Martirena, A., Berx, B., Turrell, W.R., Hughes, S.L., 2017. Operational oil spill trajectory modelling using HF Radar currents: A northwest European continental shelf case study. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 119, 336-350, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.04.010. IF(2017): 3.241, D1(9/106).
Abascal, A.J., Castanedo, S., Núñez, P., Mellor, A., Clements, A., Pérez, B., Cárdenas, M., Chiri, H., Medina, R., 2017. A high-resolution operational forecast system for oil spill response in Belfast Lough, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 114, 302-314, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.09.042. IF(2017): 3.241, D1(9/106).
Cid, A., Menéndez, M., Castanedo, S., Abascal, A.J., Méndez, F.J., Medina, R., 2016. Long-term changes in the frequency, intensity and duration of extreme storm surge events in southern Europe, Climate Dynamics, 1503-1516, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2659-1, IF(2015): 4.708, D1 (8/84).
Cid, A., Castanedo, S., Abascal, A.J., Menéndez, M., and Medina, R., 2014. A high resolution hindcast of the meteorological sea level component for Southern Europe: the GOS dataset, Climate Dynamics, 43(7-8), 2167-2184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2659-1. IF(2014): 4.673, D1(5/77).
Losada, I.J., Reguero, B. G., Méndez, F.J., Castanedo, S., Abascal, A.J., and Mínguez, R., 2013. Long-term changes in sea-level components in Latin America and the Caribbean. Global and Planetary Change, 104, 34-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2013.02.006. IF(2013): 3.707, D (7/46).
Abascal, A.J., Castanedo, S., Fernández, V., and Medina, R., 2012. Backtracking drifting objects using surface currents from High-Frequency (HF) radar technology. Ocean Dynamics, 62 (7), 1073-1089. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-012-0546-4 . IF(2012): 1.761, Q2 (27/60).
Mínguez, R., Abascal, A.J., Castanedo, S., and Medina, R., 2012. Stochastic Lagrangian Trajectory Model for Drifting Objects in the Ocean. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 26, 1081-1093. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-011-0548-7. IF(2012): 1.961, Q1 (13/122).
Abascal, A.J., Castanedo, S., Medina, R., and Liste, M., 2010. Analysis of the reliability of a statistical oil spill response model. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 60, 2099-2110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.07.008. IF(2010): 2.359, Q1(15/103).
Abascal, A.J., Castanedo, S., Medina, R., Losada, I.J., and Alvarez-Fanjul, E., 2009. Application of HF radar currents to oil spill modelling. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 58, 238-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.09.020. IF(2009): 2,63, Q1(9/88).
Abascal, A.J., Castanedo, S., Mendez, F.J., Medina, R., and Losada, I.J., 2009. Calibration of a Lagrangian transport model using drifting buoys deployed during the Prestige oil spill. Journal of Coastal Research, 25 (1), 80-90. https://doi.org/10.2112/07-0849.1.IF(2009: 1.366, Q2(69/153).
Sotillo, M.G., Alvarez Fanjul, E., Castanedo, S., Abascal, A.J., Menendez, J., Emelianov, M., Olivella, R., García-Ladona, E., Ruiz-Villareal, M., Conde, J., Gómez, M., Conde, P., Gutierrez, A.D., and Medina, R., 2008. Towards an operational system for oil-spill forecast over Spanish waters: Initial developments and implementation test. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 56(4), 686-703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.12.021. IF(2008): 2.562, Q1(11/97).
Castanedo, S., Mendez, F.J., Medina, R., Abascal, A.J., 2007. Long-term tidal level distribution using a wave-by-wave approach. Advances in Water Resources, 30, 2271-2282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2007.05.005. IF(2007): 1.817, D1 (11/166).
Abascal, A.J., Sheinbaum, J., Candela, J., Ochoa, J.L., Badán, A., 2003. Analysis of flow variability in the Yucatan Channel, Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 108, (C12), 3381, IF(2002): 2.245, D1 (25/860).
