Kantha L. Numerical Models of Oceans and Oceanic Processes 2000

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To appreciate how timely this book is, it is necessary to look back to the early days of ocean modeling. Remarkable progress had been made in numerical weather prediction by Jules Charney and Norman Phillips in the 1940s and 1950s. Joseph Smagorinsky, who had participated in that effort at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, returned to Washington and persuaded the U.S. Weather Bureau, which later became part of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, to back a visionary effort to build a comprehensive numerical model of global climate, including both the atmosphere and the ocean. The project in its early stages involved less than a dozen scientists and programmers. On the other hand, the supercomputers of the day needed for the work were vast, expensive, and difficult to use. It is not surprising that few other organizations attempted similar research, which required so much in resources and focused on such a long-range goal.
Today the situation is entirely different. The enormous technical progress in designing and building computers have made modeling widely accessible to laboratories, university departments, and even individuals. Students are adept at using computers before they even begin their university studies.
List of Acronyms. List of Symbols.
Foreword. Preface. Prologue.
Introduction to Ocean Dynamics
Introduction to Numerical Solutions
Equatorial Dynamics and Reduced Gravity Models Solutions
Midlatitude Dynamics and Quasi-Geostrophic Models
High-Latitude Dynamics and Sea-Ice Models
Tides and Tidal Modeling
Coastal Dynamics and Barotropic Models
Data and Data Processing
Sigma-Coordinate Regional and Coastal Models
Multilevel Basin Scale and Global Models
Layered and Isopycnal Models
Ice-Ocean Coupled Models
Ocean-Atmosphere Coupled Models
Data Assimilation and Nowcasts/ Forecasts
Appendix
References. Biographies. Index