NUMERICAL weather prediction has been operational since 1955 (Thompson, 1961; Fawcett, 1962). However, insufficient data and computing power have precluded a similar capability for the ocean despite the potential for numerous military and civilian applications, e.g.: antisubmarine warfare, tactical planning, optimum-track ship routing, search and rescue, long-range weather and climate predictio...

The diurnal cycle is a fundamental time scale in the climate system, at which the upper ocean and atmosphere are routinely observed to vary. Current climate models, however, are not configured to resolve the diurnal cycle in the upper ocean or the interaction of the ocean and atmosphere on these time scales. This study examines the diurnal cycle of the tropical upper ocean and its climate impac...

The paper provides a review of recent progresses in physical oceanography, such as results on studying ocean circulation and mesoscale ocean dynamics derived from satellite altimetry. Since 1992, satellite altimetry has provided an unprecedented 16 years monitoring of sea level and ocean circulation variations. Continuous measurements from satellites like TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 help us und...

Significant progress has been made in the area of upper ocean responses and air-sea interactions during the passage of tropical cyclones (TC) since the first edition published in 1992. In terms of the upper ocean impacts on intensity, considerable attention has focused on the three-dimensional cold wake structure and the negative feedback due to ocean mixed layer cooling by shear-induced vertic...

This paper presents a system for mission planning for an autonomous underwater vehicle in time-varying ocean currents. The mission planning system is designed for the AUV “SLOCUM Glider” to collect oceanographic data along the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelf. The data will be used in conjunction with a numerical ocean model currently under development by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans C...

Deployment of any type of measuring device into the ocean, whether to shallow or deeper depths, is accompanied by the hope that this equipment and associated data will be recovered. The ocean is harsh on gear. Salt water corrodes. Currents, tides, surge, storms, and winds collaborate to increase the severity of the conditions that monitoring devices will endure. All ocean-related research has e...

[1] Ocean flow moves sea water through the Earth’s magnetic field, inducing electric fields, currents and secondary magnetic fields. These motionally induced magnetic fields have a potential for the remote sensing of ocean flow variability. A first goal must be to gain a better understanding of magnetic field generation by tidal ocean flow. We predict the motionally induced magnetic fields for ...

High-frequency (HF) surface wave radars provide a unique capability to detect targets far beyond the conventional microwave radar coverage but also could contribute to the development and improvement of Tsunami Early Warning Systems. The HF radar system WERA is an oceanographic radar placed at the coast and providing simultaneous wide area measurements of ocean surface current fields and sea st...