Global Ocean Modeling (SST and Current )

Ocean modeling is a representation of the ocean in the form of an equation describing the physical processes of our understanding of how the ocean works. -Dr. Stephenie Waterman Models provide an experimental tool for the scientific rationalization of ocean phenomena. Indeed during the past decade, large scale models have become the experimental tool of choice for many oceanographers and climate scientists. Ocean modeling is not an easy thing because the ocean interacts with a wide range of earth components including atmosphere, sea ice, land ice shelves, rivers, and the solid earth lower boundary and the simulation of the world ocean over time scales appropriate for climate involves extremely rich and complex arrays of flow regimes and interactions between components of the climate system. Additionally, the ocean is largely forced at its upper and lower boundaries. In particular, Tropical Ocean experiences intense equatorial currents with rapid adjustments to wind forcing associate with equatorial Kelvin, Rossby, and instability wave and a power interannual model of air-sea variability known as El Nino in the Pacific Ocean.