Physical Oceanography
The course deals with central concepts and dynamical phenomena in physical oceanography: wind-driven and the thermohaline ocean circulation, estuarine circulation, wave phenomena, small scale processes are explained with a help of theory and observations.
The course includes a research cruise with R/V ELECTRA (in collaboration with the Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre) where students learn basic methods for observational oceanography.
The course is a part of the Master's programme in Meteorology, Oceanography and Climate, but may also be taken as an individual course.
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Course structure
The course deals with central concepts and dynamical phenomena in physical oceanography: sea water properties, the Equation of State (EOS) for sea water, water masses, T-S diagram with applications, ocean stratification, Boussinesq equations, geostrophic currents and thermal wind, Ekman layers, upwelling phenomena, Sverdrup-, Stommel-, Munk models for the wind-driven circulation, thermohaline circulation, coastal circulation (in the Baltic Sea and in the Arctic Sea), wave phenomena (Kelvin, Rossby, gravity and internal waves) and mixing processes in the ocean.
Teaching format
The teaching consists of lectures and tutorials: theory exercises and an oceanographic cruise with R/V ELECTRA (in collaboration with the Baltic Sea Centre: https://www.su.se/stockholm-university-baltic-sea-centre/infrastructure/research-vessels). Participation in the oceanographic cruise is volontary. Participation in the data analysis labs and related group work is compulsory. Under special circumstances, the student may be allowed to omit certain parts of the compulsory teaching.
Course material
Grading criteria, course literature and other material and correspondence related to the course will be available on the course Athena-site at https://athena.itslearning.com once you have registered for the course.
Assessment
Assessment consist of delivery reports and written and oral forms of examination. Grading criteria, course literature and other material and correspondence related to the course will be available on the course Athena-site at https://athena.itslearning.com once you have registered for the course.
Examiner
Here is a link to a list of course coordinators and examiners.
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Schedule
The schedule will be available no later than one month before the start of the course. We do not recommend print-outs as changes can occur. At the start of the course, your department will advise where you can find your schedule during the course.You can search for schedules from previous years in TimeEdit, by entering the course code.
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Course literature
Note that the course literature can be changed up to two months before the start of the course.
- Geoffrey K. Vallis: Essentials of Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, 2019. ISBN: 1107692792.
- Robert H. Stewart: Introduction to Physical Oceanography, Open Textbook Library, 2008. https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/20.
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Course reports
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More information
Are you curious about what to expect from the research cruise on Electra? Read a report from the course:
Upcoming courses
The course is held every autumn semester.
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Contact
Study counselor
