Physical oceanography

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  • physical oceanography
definition
  • The study of the physical aspects of the ocean, the movements of the sea, and the variability of these factors in relationship to the atmosphere and the ocean bottom.
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broader
Abstract from DBPedia
    Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters. Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is divided. Others include biological, chemical and geological oceanography. Physical oceanography may be subdivided into descriptive and dynamical physical oceanography. Descriptive physical oceanography seeks to research the ocean through observations and complex numerical models, which describe the fluid motions as precisely as possible. Dynamical physical oceanography focuses primarily upon the processes that govern the motion of fluids with emphasis upon theoretical research and numerical models. These are part of the large field of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (GFD) that is shared together with meteorology. GFD is a sub field of Fluid dynamics describing flows occurring on spatial and temporal scales that are greatly influenced by the Coriolis force.

    海洋物理学(かいようぶつりがく、英: physical oceanography)とは、海流がどこをどのように流れているかなど、海洋の物理的な条件・状態及び運動を記述・研究する学問である。海洋物理学は「記述海洋物理学」(記述海洋学、descriptive physical oceanography)と「理論海洋物理学」から構成され、前者の目的は海洋観測による海洋の状態、変動、物質分布の解析および記述であり、後者の目的はそのメカニズムを説明する理論・数値モデルを構築することにある。

    (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Physical_oceanography)