Environment, Ocean Science and the Natural World
Physical and chemical oceanography and marine meteorology glossary (page 2)
The ocean as a moving, stratified, chemically active fluid coupled to the atmosphere: thermohaline overturning and the AMOC, Ekman transport, geostrophic and western boundary currents, the seawater carbonate system, dissolved oxygen and nutrients, and salinity under TEOS-10. Marine meteorology adds air-sea flux, ENSO and teleconnections, tropical cyclones, sea state, and marine heatwaves, with bodies such as IOC-UNESCO, WMO, NOAA, and the Argo programme.
263 defined terms.
Showing 13 on this page (page 2 of 2).
W
- Westerlies
- Predominant mid-latitude winds from the west.
- Western Boundary Current
- Narrow, swift poleward current on the western side of subtropical gyres.
- Wind Stress
- Tangential force per unit area exerted by wind on the sea surface.
- Wind Stress Curl
- Curl of the wind stress vector, driving Sverdrup transport.
- WMO
- World Meteorological Organization, the UN agency for weather, climate, and water.
- World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE)
- 1990s international program that produced global hydrographic and tracer datasets.
- World Ocean Database (WOD)
- NOAA collection of in situ ocean profile data.
X
- XBT
- Expendable Bathythermograph used for routine upper-ocean temperature profiling.
- XCTD
- Expendable CTD providing salinity and temperature profiles.
Y
- Yoshida Jet
- Equatorial jet driven by zonal winds, relevant to Indian Ocean dynamics.
- Younger Dryas
- Past abrupt cooling event linked to changes in North Atlantic circulation.
Z
- Zonal Wind
- East-west component of wind velocity.
- Zooplankton
- Drifting animal plankton, important to upper-ocean carbon cycling.
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