Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía · CSIC

Susana
Flecha.

Marine Scientist · Ocean Biogeochemistry · OCEAN–IA

Carbon system, ocean acidification and dissolved greenhouse gases — from the Strait of Gibraltar to Antarctica — powered by artificial intelligence.

Susana Flecha, researcher in ocean biogeochemistry, during fieldwork in Antarctic waters

Aerial view of the COJOHNS mooring deployment — Johnsons Cove, Livingston Island, Antarctica

SCI publications: 33
H-index (GS): 18
Citations (GS): 816
Oceanographic cruises: 50
Days at sea: 287

Bibliometric data updated October 2026.

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Profile

I am a PhD in Marine Sciences (Universidad de Cádiz, 2015 — Summa Cum Laude, Extraordinary PhD Award & International Mention) specialised in ocean biogeochemistry, with a research focus on the carbon system, ocean acidification, dissolved greenhouse gases and the application of artificial intelligence to long-term oceanographic observation.

Since December 2024, I am a Postdoctoral Researcher under the competitive MOMENTUM programme (2024–2028) at the Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía (ICMAN-CSIC) in Cádiz, Spain, where I lead the OCEAN–IA research line — a framework that integrates oceanographic, meteorological and geophysical observations with deep learning to diagnose, reconstruct and predict the impact of natural and anthropogenic pressures on coastal, shelf and deep-sea ecosystems.

About

Highlights

0133 peer-reviewed articles (25 in Q1 JCR), 3 publications in the global Top 10 % most-cited in their fields
02Principal Investigator of 6 competitive projects — over €359 k of funding captured as PI
03Coordinator of the Gibraltar Fixed Time Series (GIFT) since 2008 and co-founder of the Balearic Ocean Acidification Time Series (BOATS) since 2018
04Fieldwork across the Southern, Atlantic, Baltic and Mediterranean oceans — 287 days at sea, 180+ field campaigns
05International collaborations with institutions in Europe, America, Asia and Africa
06Representative of the Mediterranean node in the steering committee of ICONEC (GOA-ON) and coordinator of the Risks & Hazards area of Conexión Polar CSIC
07Research outputs cited in the IPCC SROCC (2019), the IPCC AR6 — WGI Chapter 5 (2021) and Synthesis Report (2023) — and the CLIVAR-Spain 2025 national assessment

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Research lines

Two complementary lines: measuring how the ocean’s carbon system is changing, and building AI tools to reconstruct and predict it.

CO₂ · CH₄ · N₂O

Carbon system & greenhouse gases

Ocean–atmosphere CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O fluxes
Ocean acidification and deoxygenation
Coastal, shelf and deep-sea biogeochemistry
Polar and Mediterranean carbon dynamics

OCEAN–IA

AI for the ocean

Deep learning for pH, CO₂ and GHG reconstruction
Long-term time-series analysis (GIFT, BOATS)
Integration of oceanographic, meteorological and seismic data
Open, reproducible tools aligned with FAIR principles

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From the Strait of Gibraltar to Antarctica

Field sites span more than 100 degrees of latitude — from the Baltic and the Mediterranean to the western Antarctic Peninsula.

Approximate coordinates

Long-term observatories

GIFT

Since 2008

Gibraltar Fixed Time Series

Strait of Gibraltar · 35.92°N 5.75°W

Long-term oceanographic series based on high-frequency sampling of biogeochemical and physical variables in the Strait of Gibraltar, monitoring the exchange of water masses between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

BOATS

Since 2018

Balearic Ocean Acidification Time Series

Balearic Sea · 39.49°N 2.62°E

Coastal observation network in the Balearic Sea, with emphasis on Posidonia oceanica meadows, providing high-frequency pH and biogeochemical monitoring for ocean acidification assessment in Mediterranean coastal waters.

COJOHNS

Since 2024

Carbon Observatory Johnson

Livingston Island, Antarctica · 62.66°S 60.37°W

High-frequency time series of seawater pH, pCO₂ and additional environmental variables (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll) in Johnsons Cove (Caleta Johnson), Livingston Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) — a glacier-influenced embayment adjacent to a tidewater glacier on the western Antarctic Peninsula.

Research

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Selected publications

View all

2025

Integrated meteocean and seismic dataset for AI-based seawater CO₂ estimation at Deception Island, Antarctica

Flecha, S., Amaya-Vías, S., Medina, M., Fraile-Nuez, E., Jiménez-Morales, V., Contreras-Guijarro, G., Díez-Minguito, M., Caballero-Martínez, O.A., Navarro, G., Tovar-Sánchez, A., Huertas, I.E.

Scientific Data, 13, 38

doi:10.1038/s41597-025-06351-4First & corresponding author

2025

Drivers of the spatiotemporal distribution of dissolved nitrous oxide and air–sea exchange in a coastal Mediterranean area

Flecha, S., de la Paz, M., Pérez, F.F., Marbà, N., Morell, C., Alou-Font, E., Tintoré, J., Hendriks, I.E.

Ocean Science, 21(4), 1515–1532

doi:10.5194/os-21-1515-2025First & corresponding author

2015

Trends of pH decrease in the Mediterranean Sea through high-frequency observational data: indication of ocean acidification in the basin

Flecha, S., Pérez, F.F., García-Lafuente, J., Sammartino, S., Ríos, A.F., Huertas, I.E.

Scientific Reports, 5, 16770

doi:10.1038/srep16770First & corresponding authorQ1 · Top 10 % most-cited in its field · 48 citations

2022

pH trends and seasonal cycle in the coastal Balearic Sea reconstructed through machine learning

Flecha, S., Giménez-Romero, À., Tintoré, J., Pérez, F.F., Alou-Font, E., Matías, M.A., Hendriks, I.E.

Scientific Reports, 12(1), 12956

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-17253-5First & corresponding author

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Fieldwork

CSIC–UTM operations in the Southern Ocean — sampling glacier-fed Antarctic waters.