Structure of the Upper Ocean Velocity Field on Scales Larger than 10 Kilometers

• Main Author: Firing, Eric
• Other Authors: NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA DEPT OF NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1993
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; *OCEAN CURRENTS; *STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS; *STATISTICAL ANALYSIS; SHEAR STRESSES; OCEAN SURFACE; FOURIER TRANSFORMATION; MEASUREMENT; Component Reports; Acoustic doppler current profiler; Wavenumber spectrum; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADP008729; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADP008729

Upper ocean currents, illustrated here by shipboard ADCP data, are a complex function of both space and time. Vertical shear is strong near the equator and decreases toward the poles. Particularly strong currents are found near the equator, in the southern ocean, and on western boundaries. High variability sometimes, but not always, coincides with strong mean currents. Inertial oscillations are ubiquitous and can dominate a dataset. Their spatial structure has not been well observed. An exploratory attempt to calculate horizontal wavenumber spectra from vertically averaged shipboard ADCP measurements show potentially interesting differences between two sections, one at 35 deg N, the other near 18 deg N. This article is from 'Statistical Methods in Physical Oceanography: Proceedings of 'Aha Huliko's Hawaiian Winter Workshop Held in Manoa, Hawaii on January 12-15, 1993, AD-A273 612, p37 thru 53.