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Upper Ocean |
| Physical Oceanography |
The upper ocean is the region of the ocean that is in contact with the atmosphere, and through which all air-sea interaction takes place. The surface layer of the ocean is usually vertically homogeneous in such properties as salinity, temperature, density, and velocity, and is therefore called the mixed layer. Simple, one-dimensional models of the mixed layer have been very successful at simulating oceanic measurements from moorings such as those shown in the photo. We now have a first-order understanding of how heat and momentum fluxed from the atmosphere drive the ocean and how variations in sea surface temperature feed back on the atmosphere. Future investigations of the mixed layer will increasingly focus on its three-dimensional structure. One mechanism likely responsible for mixing the mixed layer is the Langmuir cell, first described by the famous scientist Irving Langmuir fifty years ago, and still a topic of active research. Fronts exist in the mixed layer, similar in some ways to the fronts seen in weather forecasts on the evening news. In the atmosphere the fronts are often between cloudy and clear skies, while in the ocean there are fronts which are warm and salty on one side and cold and fresh on the other. Ocean fronts can have substantial influence on cloudiness and other properties of the overlying atmosphere. The mixed layer has interesting phenomena on horizontal scales ranging from meters to the size of ocean basins.
A number of Scripps scientists are actively studying the upper ocean using a variety of observational and theoretical techniques. Observations are made from moorings, drifters, floats, and ships. The simple one-dimensional models of the mixed layer are being extended to describe the evolution of temperature-salinity structure in the horizontal. Coupled ocean and atmosphere models are being used to investigate interactions between sea surface temperature and cloudiness. Since an understanding of mixed layer processes is key to our ability to predict climate, studies of the upper ocean will continue to be important.
Scripps faculty researching the upper ocean include:
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Physical Oceanography at Scripps