In this course, we will be talking about physical concepts and apply those concepts to the ocean, with an amphasis on processes at work in local and regional applications such as the coastal waters off Washington and Puget Sound. To do this there will be lectures three days a week with some in class problem solving and discussion. Once a week, we will be in the Spatial Analysis Lab and work on computer based exercises to build our intuition of the processes.

The pimary textbook will be the notes that will be available on the web site after the lectures. The recommended text is

Introduction to Physical Oceanography by John A. Knauss.

There are several other books that will be on reserve in the Fish/Ocean library that may be useful.

Ocean circulation prepared by Open University course team

Waves, tides and shallow-water processes prepared by Open University course team

In class and home learning

We will do short exercises in class to develop understanding of the lecture material and and we will be doing a series of in class computer based exercises that will be the basis of the homework. I encourage you to work in groups on the homework, but you each must turn in your own assignment.

Assessment

The homework will be worth 40%, the mid-term 20% and the final 40% of the grade. The final will be cumulative. The final exam will be 8:30-10:20 a.m. Monday, Mar. 12.