Division of Physical Oceanography Course Offerings

620 - Physical Oceanography (4)

Introduction to properties of sea water, oceanographic instruments and methods, heat budget, general ocean circulation, formation of water masses, dynamics of circulation, regional oceanography, waves, tides, sea level. Core course requirement. Instructors: Firing, Flament and Merrifield. [For more information, click here.] Pre: MATH 206 or consent.

630 - Physical Oceanography Laboratory (1) (3-hr Lb)

Techniques and methods of analysis. Various instructors. Pre: MATH 232 and consent.

640 - Observational Physical Oceanography (3)

Interpretation of observations of oceanic motions, water mass properties, sea surface topography, and air-sea moisture, heat and momentum exchange, etc., via modern in situ and remote sensing instrumentation; observational strategies explored; recent field programs reviewed. Instructor: Lukas. [For more information, click here.] Pre: OCN 620 or consent.

660 - Ocean Waves I (3)

Simple harmonic oscillator & vibrating string used to introduce wave concepts & terminology; acoustic, capillary, gravity, inertial & Rossby wave dynamics surveyed; covers concepts of dispersion, group velocity, wave energy conservation, etc.; effects of topography, boundaries and stratification introduced. Instructor: Luther. Pre: MATH 432 or consent.

661 - Ocean Waves II (3)

Forced and free baroclinic gravity and Rossby waves; topographic waves; coastal waves; equatorial waves; instabilities of mean currents. Instructor: McCreary. Pre: OCN620, 662 or consent.

662 - Marine Hydrodynamics (3)

Introduction to classical hydrodynamics and continuum mechanics; techniques for solution of Navier-Stokes equations on various scales of oceanic motion; vorticity, potential theory, viscosity and boundary layers, laminar and turbulent flow, instability. Instructor: Qiu. Syllabus. Pre: MATH 403-404 or consent.

663 - Satellite Oceanography (3)

Techniques of satellite observations of the ocean, including temperature, pigment concentration, currents and winds; analysis of a satellite data set as term project. Instructor: Flament. [For more information, click here.] Pre: 620 or consent.

664 - Oceanographic Instrumentation & Technology (3)

Measurement techniques in physical oceanography, including pressure, temperature, salinity, oxygen, optical sensors, current meters, navigation systems, ocean acoustics and mooring structures. Includes a laboratory research project. Instructor: Flament. [For more information, click here.] Pre: 620 or consent.

665 - Small-scale Air-Sea Interaction (3)

Theories and observations of the turbulent atmospheric planetary boundary layer and oceanic surface mixed layer; includes probability and statistical tools, coupled 1-dimensional air-sea interaction models, and horizontal variability. Instructor: Lukas. [For more information, click here.] Pre: OCN 620, 662 or consent. Syllabus.

666 - Large-scale Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions (3)

Models and observations of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system, concentrating on large-scale phenomena, such as global climate change, the El Nino/Southern Oscillation, atmospheric convergence zones, Walker Circulation, tropical-extratropical interactions; includes feedback mechanisms associated with fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum between ocean and atmosphere. Instructor: Lukas. [For more information, click here.] Pre: OCN 665 or consent.

667 - Advanced Geophysical Fluid Dynamics I (3)

Basic concepts and equations to describe large-scale ocean circulation; numerical models; boundary layers; models of wind driven circulation of a homogenous ocean. Instructor: Müller. Syllabus. Pre: OCN 620, 662 or consent.

668 - Advanced Geophysical Fluid Dynamics II (3)

Thermodynamics of stratified fluids; convection; mixing; models of the thermohaline circulation; the role of eddies in the large-scale ocean circulation. Instructor: Müller. Syllabus. Pre: OCN 667 or consent.

699 - Directed Research (V)

Various instructors. Pre: consent.

700 - Thesis Research (V)

Various instructors. Research for master's thesis.

760 - Topics in Physical Oceanography (V)

Nearshore processes, advanced mathematical techniques, recent developments, etc. Typically given by visiting professors in their specialties, or in response to student interest. Various instructors.

760.1 - Numerical Modeling of Ocean Circulation (3)

Numerical methods introduced: approximation of functions, finite-difference and spectral methods of solving heat, wave, advection/diffusion and elliptic equations. Oceanic models discussed: homogeneous, layered quasi-geostrophic, and primitive equation. Instructor: Qiu. Syllabus. Pre: OCN 620, 662 or consent.

760.2 - Introduction to Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (3)

Geostrophic flows, vorticity dynamics, upwelling, baroclinic and barotropic instability, fronts and jets, climate dynamics, equatorial dynamics. Instructor: Firing. Pre: OCN620, 662 or consent.

800 - Dissertation Research (V)

Research for doctoral dissertation. Various instructors.

Last Revised: 29 October, 2004