The Ocean Surface Boundary Layer


New observations of the surface boundary layer of the ocean reveal some of the important physical processes that determine the direct response of the ocean to air-sea exchanges of heat and momentum. Under fair weather conditions the surface layer is stratified on account of solar heating, and the wind-driven current develops a diurnal current jet. The jet is rotated by the Coriolis force and erased by cooling at night. The time average of many such events yields a mean current structure that is not unlike the classical Ekman spiral.

The talk is currently scheduled to be in Michelson Hall, room 103 beginning approximately 1200.