CAS ES 351 Lecture 7: Feb. 6
8 Feb 2019
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Document Summary
Coriolis effect is affecting the forcing of wind and the respond on the surface water (ekman. There is a net transport of surface water of about 90 degrees to the right of the prevailing wind direction. The ekman spiral also drives surface water into circular gyres. The water in the middle of the gyre become very nutrient depleted because the waters stand out to plankton where they use up the nutrients. Great pacific garbage patch rivers bring the garbage out to ocean, and a consequence of gyre circulation. The gulf stream flows with surface currents near east coast of new england in the north. Satellites look for infrared energy in the wavelengths in 11. 5-12. 5 microns to get surface ocean temperatures, but it cant detect through clouds so there are data gaps. Cfcs were discovered in the 70s and 80s to be bad for the environment, and they didn"t exist before the 1950s.
