Danilo A. Silva

I’m a Brazilian physical oceanographer, interested in how the ocean moves stuff around, from microparticles, such as plastic or organic carbon, to bigger things such as water masses. I apply a combination of numerical modeling, Lagrangian analysis and in situ measurements to understand accumulation hotspots, water masses’ transformation and pathways, cross-shelf exchanges, and so on. Currently, I am investigating how seamounts affect the heat and mass transport along the Brazil Current’s route, as well as how physical subduction is affected by these processes in driving the sinking of particulate organic carbon. I earned my degree in Oceanography (2016), and my Master’s (2019) and PhD (2024) in Physical Oceanography from the University of São Paulo. I also spent time as a visiting student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (2023) and a visiting researcher at Utrecht University (2025), broadening my research perspectives and collaborations.

I also have experience as a scientific consultant, where I applied my scientific programming skills at companies in the renewable energy sector and in operational forecasting for harbor applications. In this work, my responsibilities were focused on meteo-oceanographic data analysis, developing full ETL pipelines for ingesting satellite and reanalysis data, as well as for nowcasting precipitation, wind, currents, and sea level. My goal is to bridge rigorous science with practical applications, creating knowledge that informs both research and society.

Research Interests

Cross-shelf exchanges
Lagrangian analysis
Coastal ocean modeling
Low-budget instrumentation
Carbon export
Biophysical interactions

Education

PhD. in Physical Oceanography, University of São Paulo
(Aug, 2024)
MSc. in Physical Oceanography, University of São Paulo
(Mar, 2019)
BSc. in Oceanography, University of São Paulo
(Dec, 2026)

selected publications

An inventory of salty and warm subsurface intrusions in the South Brazil Bight

Silva, Danilo A., Sasaki, Dalton Kei, Dottori, Marcelo, da Silveira, Ilson Carlos Almeida, Belo, Wellington Ceccopieri, and Martins, Renato Parkinson

Continental Shelf Research 2023

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Subsurface intrusions of salty and warm waters onto the shelf can potentially impact the thermodynamics and biogeochemistry of these relatively shallow water environments. Such thermohaline intrusions are usually associated with double diffusive processes and can enhance the vertical and lateral fluxes. In this work, we characterized subsurface intrusions of Tropical Waters (TW) at the South Brazil Bight (SBB) - a mid-latitude continental shelf, which were detected based on salinity vertical profiles from a historical dataset. We found the intrusions tend to follow the pycnocline and are relatively common year-round, occurring at 27% of the dataset, with a maximum salinity highly correlated with the maximum stratification. Intrusions have different along-shelf characteristics, varying with the shelf width and depth. North of São Sebastião Island (SSI) – at the central portion of the SBB –, intrusions were thicker, saltier, and shallower than the ones found at the south of SSI. These differences could be related to the variations of the Coastal Water (CW) and South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) volume along the shelf and throughout the year. We found that intrusions’ thickness presents an inverse correlation with stratification, resulting in thinner intrusions in more stratified environments. This inverse correlation suggests double-diffusively driven intrusions. We apply the Turner Angle method to investigate whether the environment is susceptible to double diffusive processes. This analysis suggests that thermohaline intrusions in the SBB might not be primarily double diffusive. However, the dominance of different double diffusion processes - diffusive convection (salt fingering) at the upper (lower) layer - suggests that these processes influence intrusion growth, steady-state, and erosion. Nonetheless, the mechanism responsible for the initial density perturbation remains unknown and further studies are needed to explore the relationship between the Brazil Current dynamics and thermohaline warm and salty subsurface intrusions.
Seascape genetics in a polychaete worm: Disentangling the roles of a biogeographic barrier and environmental factors

Mendes, Cecili B., Cortez, Thainá, Santos, Cinthya S. G., Sobral-Souza, Thadeu, Santos, Arian Dielactaquiz, Sasaki, Dalton Kei, Silva, Danilo A., Dottori, Marcelo, and Andrade, Sónia C. S.

Journal of Biogeography 2022

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The atmospheric blocking influence over the South Brazil Bight during the 2013–2014 summer

Silva, Danilo A., and Dottori, Marcelo

Regional Studies in Marine Science 2021

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The 2013–2014 summer in the Southeast Brazil region set records for negative precipitation anomalies and the highest sea surface temperatures. Such event was attributed to the anomalous presence of atmospheric blocking, which prevented the propagation of a cold front towards the Equator and the establishment of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone, two phenomena that regulate the precipitation regime in this area. These blocking episodes are relatively important to the climate in mid-latitudes, but the feedback of the coastal ocean is still poorly understood under these anomalous conditions. This paper investigates, from a numerical perspective, the impacts on the thermohaline properties and circulation in the South Brazil Bight (SBB). We found that enhanced shortwave radiation leads to intense surface heating and that the presence of northeasterly winds strengthens the coastal upwelling nearby Cabo Frio. The South Atlantic Coastal Waters, transported into the SBB, regulate the extreme heating in the northern half of the domain, while, in the southern half, the absence of cold waters leads to the development of a warm-water pool. The final thermohaline structure induced an enlargement and intensification of the northwestward currents south of São Sebastião Island. Between Ubatuba and Cabo Frio, in the northern half, the northeasterly winds developed an intense surface advection towards offshore, and in the northern region, compensated by an opposite advection, towards the coast. We conclude that the coastal ocean feedback could present extreme anomalous conditions during atmospheric blocking events, leading to impacts upon the thermodynamical properties. Further studies are needed to understand the impacts of these events on biogeochemical properties.