Physical Oceanography

Code:

MA116

Acronym:

OF

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Physical Oceanography

Instance: 2012/2013 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Aquatic Production
Course/CS Responsible:	Aquatic Sciences

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LCMA	66	Plan 2012 to 2017	1	-	5	48	135

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The principal objective is that the students may acquire a strong qualification on the basic concepts of Physical Oceanography and methodology of oceanographic research.

Program

The relevance of oceanographic research. Short history of Oceanography. The Ocean basins.

Physical and Chemical properties of sea water. Sound and Light. Temperature, Salinity and Density. Potential temperature.

Instruments and methods of oceanographic research: water sample bottles and reversing thermometers; AUTOSAL salinometer; CTDs; current meters; mooring technology; XBTs and XC;Ps; acoustic profilers; SOFAR and RAFOS floats and drifting buoys; acoustic tomography; remote sensing – platforms and sensors.

The atmosphere and the ocean. Global wind system. Heat transport by the atmosphere. Ocean-atmosphere interaction. Oceans as a climate regulator.

Spatial and temporal distribution of temperature, salinity and density. The thermocline and pycnocline. Dissolved oxygen, nutrients and chemical tracers.

Water masses. The T-S diagram.

Oceancirculation mechanisms. Coriolis force and Ekman layer. Inertial currents. Thermohaline circulation. Geostrophic currents. Barothropy and Baroclinicity. Convergences and divergences. The ocean energy. Mesoscale eddies. Meddies.

The ocean large-scale circulation. Long waves. Kelvin and Rossby waves. The El Niño. The Gulf Stream, equatorial currents, Monsoon currents, circulation at high latitudes. Circulation off the Iberian Peninsula – the Portugal current system.

Coastal oceanography. Ekman circulation in shallow waters. Coastal Upwelling. Tides. Gravity waves and littoral drift.

Mandatory literature

George L. Pickard, William J. Emery; Descriptive Physical Oceanography: An Introduction [5th (SI) Enlarged Edition], Pergamon Press, 1990. ISBN: 0-08-037952-4
Open University Course Team; Open University third-level course, S330 Oceanography: Volume 3 - Ocean Circulation, Pergamon Press in association with The Open University, 1989. ISBN: 0-08-036369-5
Open University Course Team; Open University third-level course, S330 Oceanography: Volume 2 - Seawater: Its Composition, Properties and Behaviour, Pergamon Press in association with The Open University, 1991. ISBN: 0-08-036367-9

Teaching methods and learning activities

Software

OCEANUS, Sistema Integrado de Visualização e Processamento de Dados Oceanográficos. Martins, C.G.

Evaluation Type

Evaluation with final exam