In many nonclonal, benthic marine species, geographic distribution is mediated by the dispersal of their larvae. The dispersal and recruitment of marine larvae may be limited by temperature gradients that can affect mortality or by ocean currents that can directly affect the movements of pelagic larvae. We focus on Point Conception, a well-known biogeographic boundary between the Californian an...

ii This thesis has been examined and approved. Date The box is present here to hide the page number. Nothing in white shows up when printed. iii DEDICATION To Alan Quinn, Anna Quinn and Kate Scheuring for their infinite love and support. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I would like to thank Colin Ware for approaching me with an interesting and exciting research topic and for providing the resourc...

We analyze the observability properties of an underwater vehicle (moving in 2D) performing single beacon navigation for two specific classes of maneuvers, whereby the vehicle measures its distance to a fixed transponder located at a known position using an acoustic ranging device. We show that in the presence of known ocean currents, the system is found to be globally observable for constant re...

This article is a perspective on the recently discovered realm of submesoscale currents in the ocean. They are intermediate-scale flow structures in the form of density fronts and filaments, topographic wakes and persistent coherent vortices at the surface and throughout the interior. They are created from mesoscale eddies and strong currents, and they provide a dynamical conduit for energy tra...

The Northern Indian Ocean is unique in the global ocean because of seasonal reversal of winds as well as surface ocean currents. In the southern part of the Indian Ocean, a significant ocean-atmospheric phenomenon developed just like an El Nino phenomenon noticed in the Pacific Ocean. This phenomenon is known as the Indian Ocean Dipole. In this study we investigate the relationship between IOD ...

Lagrangian drifters are oceanographic devices used to study circulation patterns in the ocean. The devices are typically passive, which means that they have no actuators to initiate motion. They are mainly driven by the ocean currents. A drifter, as depicted in Fig. 1, in principle consists of a surface float and a drogue connected via tether. The surface float provides the necessary buoyancy t...

Definition The deviation of the height of the ocean surface from the geoid is known as the ocean surface topography. The geoid is a surface on which the Earth’s gravity field is uniform. The ocean surface topography is caused by ocean waves, tides, currents, and the loading of atmospheric pressure. The main application of ocean surface topography is for the determination of large-scale ocean ci...

[1] Atmosphere model-derived flux fields are used to force coastal ocean models. Coarse resolution and incomplete boundary layer dynamics limit the accuracy of these forcing fields and hence the performance of the ocean models. We address this limitation for the west Florida shelf using optimal interpolation to blend winds measured in situ with winds produced by model analyses. By improving the...

This article reviews the discovery, development, and use of high-frequency (HF) radio wave backscatter in oceanography. HF radars, as the instruments are commonly called, remotely measure ocean surface currents by exploiting a Bragg resonant backscatter phenomenon. Electromagnetic waves in the HF band (3-30 MHz) have wavelengths that are commensurate with wind-driven gravity waves on the ocean ...