Observing 'Integrating' Variable in the Ocean,
Abstract
Some physical variables are natural spatial integrals of oceanic water motion or state properties. Observation of these variables permits isolation of physical processes that might otherwise be difficult to examine because of the superposition of many phenomena at one place. Independent of a particular physical model, observations of such integrating quantities frequently enable direct determination of relatedness between variables at different locations, and direct determination of causality, while more traditional point observations may fail to find such relationships. Furthermore, integral quantities such as volume and heat transport, which are now being studied with great fervor because of their climatic importance, are likely more accurately estimated using observations of integrating variables than using a set of point measurements. Examples of integrating types of variables, such as horizontal electric fields, vertical acoustic travel time and bottom pressure, are used to demonstrate the ideas above with examples drawn from the study of (a) atmospherically forced, mesoscale motions, and (b) the volume and heat transports of the Gulf Stream.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADP008731
Entities
People
- Douglas S. Luther
Organizations
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa