Numerical Models of Oceans and Oceanic Processes (International Geophysics): Volume 66 - Hardcover

Kantha, Lakshmi H.; Clayson, Carol Anne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0124340687 ISBN 13: 9780124340688

Publisher: Academic Press, 2000

Synopsis

Oceans play a pivotal role in our weather and climate. Ocean-borne commerce is vital to our increasingly close-knit global community. Yet we do not fully understand the intricate details of how they function, how they interact with the atmosphere, and what the limits are to their biological productivity and their tolerance to wastes. While satellites are helping us to fill in the gaps, numerical ocean models are playing an important role in increasing our ability to comprehend oceanic processes, monitor the current state of the oceans, and to a limited extent, even predict their future state.
Numerical Models of Oceans and Oceanic Processes is a survey of the current state of knowledge in this field. It brings together a discussion of salient oceanic dynamics and processes, numerical solution methods, and ocean models to provide a comprehensive treatment of the topic. Starting with elementary concepts in ocean dynamics, it deals with equatorial, mid-latitude, high latitude, and coastal dynamics from the perspective of a modeler. A comprehensive and up-to-date chapter on tides is also included. This is followed by a discussion of different kinds of numerical ocean models and the pre- and post-processing requirements and techniques. Air-sea and ice-ocean coupled models are described, as well as data assimilation and nowcast/forecasts. Comprehensive appendices on wavelet transforms and empirical orthogonal functions are also included.
This comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the field should be of interest to oceanographers, atmospheric scientists, and climatologists. While some prior knowledge of oceans and numerical modeling is helpful, the book includes an overview of enough elementary material so that along with its companion volume, Small Scale Processes in Geophysical Flows, it should be useful to both students new to the field and practicing professionals.

* Comprehensive and up-to-date review
* Useful for a two-semester (or one-semester on selected topics) graduate level course
* Valuable reference on the topic
* Essential for a better understanding of weather and climate

About this title

Review:

From the Foreword by Kirk Bryan
"This book...draws from many sources and an extensive background and experience in modeling to provide an understandable teaching tool and guide for research."

"Ideal for a student or researcher who wants to understand the mathematical fundamentals of ocean processes."
THE LEADING EDGE

"I recommend the book to anyone wanting to
obtain a deeper understanding of the many scientific and numerical aspects of oceanic circulation problems. "Numerical Models of Oceans and Oceanic Processes" is an indispensable textbook for graduate courses in geophysical fluid dynamics, applied hydrodynamics, ocean engineering and physical oceanography."
--Andrzej Icha, Polish Academy of Science

"...a tremendous source and time saver to numerical modelers...unhesitatingly recommended to anyone interested in numerical modeling."
--Applied Mechanics Reviews, Volume 54 (1), Jan 2001

"When reading the book, because of my own area of research I had a particular interest in seeing how well it covered the different Arakawa grids, the three main types of deep-ocean model, the theory of tides, the representation of sea-ice, isopycnal mixing and open boundary conditions. I was pleased to find that they were all included, which must be a first, and that the sections concerned were often excellent introductions to the subjects."
--D. Webb, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2001, Vol. 442.

About the Author:

Dr. Kantha graduated witha Ph.D. from M.I.T. in 1973. He then joined the John Hopkins Unversity and worked on problems related to mixing precesses in the oceans. In the 1980's his interest turned to numerical modeling of the oceans and he worked at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory of the Princeton University. After a brief stay at the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, he joined the University of Colorado in 1991. He has worked closely with the Naval Oceanographic Office and the Naval Research Laboratory on operational nowcast/forecast models of the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Persian Gulf. He has received awards from the U.S. Navy for his assistance during Desert Storm. His current research interest is in combining satellite data such as from altimeters with comprehensive numerical ocean/atmosphere models for application to real time nowcast/forecasts of marginal seas. He holds an IPA appointment from the Naval Oceanographic Office and assist them on operational models of marginal seas.

About this edition

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0124340687
• ISBN 13: 9780124340688
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 750