This page is intended to share information and provide a convenient reference for course materials. It will evolve as the course progresses. Look under general information topics for the course description and syllabus and for assignments.
INSTRUCTOR: Prof. Jeffrey D. Paduan (Code OC/Pd) OFFICE: Spanagel 348 PHONE: 656-3350 OFFICE HOURS: Afternoons, by phone, by email QUARTER: Summer 00 LECTURE WHERE: Spanagel 310 WHEN: Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur 0900-0950 PROPOSED GRADING Journal Notebooks and Lab Excercise(s) 25% Midterm Exam 25% Final Exam 25% Project Presentation 25% (Student Presentations during weeks 4-10) SPECIAL DATES Monday, 4 September: Martin Luther King Holiday Monday, 25 September: Final Exam, 0800-0950, Sp-310 COURSE OBJECTIVES 1) To acquaint you with typical scales and behaviours of mesoscale ocean variability (e.g. oceanic eddies, fronts, and meandering jets) 2) To acquaint you with the many ways in which mesoscale features influence ocean circulation, climate, and operational activities. 3) To encourage you to read contemporary, professional literature critically. 4) To help you to translate the phenomenology of mesoscale features into requirements for ocean observing systems and models. Catalog Description: OC4331 MESOSCALE OCEAN VARIABILITY ( 4 - 0 ) Contemporary knowledge of ocean mesoscale eddies, fronts, meandering currents; baroclinic and barotropic instabilities; kinematics, dynamics and energetics from observations, theories and models. PREREQUISITE: OC4211
General Topic Subtopics Week ------------------------------------------------------------------ Introduction General Circ. versus "eddies" 1 Eddy Paradox (Gill/Ped) 1 1/2 Layer Model MODE Eddy time/length scales 1/2 Sampling Methods/Problems Objective Techniques/Pitfalls 2/3 Analysis Computer Lab Assign Gulf Stream Cold Core Rings 3/4 Rings Warm Core Rings 4 OTIS Navy Operational Mapping 4 DAMEE Ex., FNMOC Lecture Northeast STORMS Drifter Examples 5 Pacific Eddies Niiler & Hall Mooring Exam-1 All of the above 5/6 Eastern Bndry California Current Examples 5/6 Current Eddies Squirts and Jets vs. Eddies Fronts FASINEX Experiment 6 SUBDUCTION Experiment Retrograde/Prograde Instability Hydrodynamic Instability 7 Theory Barotropic Instability Instability 1.5 Layer BT Instability 7/8 Theory (cont) Baroclinic Instability Energy Considerations Isolated Self and topo. interactions 9 Vorticies Propagation on beta-plane Satellite Alt Finding eddies with altimeters 9 Data assimilation examples Sub Coherent Mesoscale Vorticies 10 Student Present 2/day on above topics 4-10 Catch-up/Review SOFs 11 Final Exam (Exam-2) Material after Exam-1 12Mail to: Jeffrey D. Paduan