PHYSICAL OCEAOGRAPHY BRIEF SUMMARY

Thursday, 25 January 2018

Temperature, Salinity and Desnsity. First, density is directly related to the

distribution of horizontal pressure gradients and ocean currents. Density variety is caused by
changes in temperature and salinity influence the density of water at the surface, which can
lead to convection. And what caused the change of salinity and temperature ? Heat fluxes,
evaporation, rain, river inflow, and freezing and melting of sea ice all influence the distribution
of temperature and salinity at the ocean’s surface. In addition, temperature, salinity, and
pressure are used to calculate density. Because of that, we have to know the distribution of
temperature, salinity, and density in the ocean.
Salinity is the total amount of dissolved material in grams in one kilogram of sea water.
It doesn’t have a dimension. The ocean has range of salinity is from 34.60 to 34.80 ppt. Salinity
distribution varies within depth of the ocean. In the surface, the surface salinity is 33ppt –
37ppt. In the upper layer, the salinity is larger than in surface. Salinity is minimum at 600 -
1000 meter, increase up to 2000 meter then drop again, and is maximum at 100 -200 meter in
tropics. In deep water 4000 m depth or more, average salinity around 34.6 -34.9ppt. While
temporal variation of Salinity in open ocean is 0.5ppt.
How to measure salinity? It can be done with two ways, by measuring its Chlorinity
and Conductivity. Chlorinity analysis can be measured directly by a simple chemical analysis.
Salinity is directly proportional to the amount of chlorine in sea water. The formula is :
𝑆 = 1.80655 𝐶𝑙
Where Cl= Chlorinity= the mass of silver required to precipitate completely the halogens in
0.328 523 4 kg of the sea-water sample.
Conductivity analysis is found by the early 1970s. The meterswere very precise and
relatively easy to use compared with the chemical techniques used to measure chlorinity. From
1981 until now, salinity is defined using only conductivity. The formula is :

Where : C(S, t, 0) is the conductivity of the sea-water sample at temperature t and standard
atmospheric pressure and C(KCl, t, 0) is the conductivity of the standard potassium chloride
(KCl) solution at temperature t and standard atmospheric pressure.
Salinity distribution. 75% of Ocean Volume, T 0o-6oC has salinity of 34 -35 ppt.
50% of Ocean Volume,T 1.3o-3.8oC has salinity of 34.6 -34.8 ppt. On average, T 3.5oC, S
34.7 ppt. In the ocean, the area with larger rainfall has lesser salinity than the area with lesser
rainfall.
 Temperature distribution. In the surface, the temperature is 28o C in the equator,
and 2o C, and on the shore, the temperature is lower because of upwelling. In the Upper
Layers and the Thermocline, the temperature drops very quickly on 200-1000m depth
because of thermocline. In the Deep Water, the temperature increases again after 3000-
4000m because of the pressure. Temporal Variations of Temperature in the Upper Layer is
Equator 1 -2 K and at 40o Latitude is 5 -10 K.

Ocean Mixed Layer is caused by Wind blowing on the ocean stirs the upper layers
leading to a thin mixed layer at the sea surface having constant temperature and salinity from
the surface down to a depth where the values differ from those at the surface. The mixed layer
is roughly 10–200 m thick over most of the tropical and mid-latitude belts. But the depth and
temperature of mixed layer could be varies day to day because of Heat fluxes and Turbulence.
Heat fluxes through the surface heat and cool the surface waters. Changes in temperature
change the density contrast between the mixed layer and deeper waters. Turbulence mixes
water in the layer, and it mixes the water in the layer with water in the thermocline. The mixed
layer tends to be saltier than the thermocline between 10◦and 40◦latitude, where evaporation
exceeds precipitation, and it’s fresher at high latitudes and tropical Pacific.
Thermocline, Pynocline and Halocline. Below the mixed layer, water temperature
decreases rapidly with depth except at high latitudes. The range of depths where the rate of
change, the gradient of temperature, is large is called the thermocline. The thermocline also
tends to be the layer where density gradient is greatest, the pycnocline. Also, rapid increase
salinity occurs in the ocean, called halocline.
Density changes is affected by the cold water formed during winter. The cold water
formed at the surface sinks to a depth determined by its density relative to the density of the
deeper water. The water then carried by the currents. Currents is affected by the distribution of
density. So it’s vital to know the distribution of the ocean density.
Density measurement is calculated from in situ measurements of pressure,
temperature, and conductivity using the equation of state for sea water with an accuracy of two
parts per million. Density of water at the sea surface is typically 1027 kg/m3. physical
oceanographers often quote only the last 2 digits of the density, a quantity they call density
anomaly or Sigma (S,t,p).

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 Potential Temperature and Density. To compare temperature and density of water
masses at different depths in the ocean, oceanographers use potential temperature and potential
density which remove most of the influence of pressure on density. Potential temperature is
defined as the temperature of a parcel of water at the sea surface after it has been raised
adiabatically from some depth in the ocean. Potential temperature is calculated from the
temperature in the water at depth, the in situ temperature.
Temperature Measurement can be measured with Thermistors and mercury
thermometers that are commonly used on ships and buoys. It also can be used by Infrared
radiometers on satellites measure the ocean’s surface temperature. Mercury Thermometer is
the most widely used, non-electronic thermometer, and has accuracy of ±0.001◦C with very
careful calibration. Thermistors is a semiconductor having resistance that varies rapidly and
predictably with temperature. It has high resolution and an accuracy of about ±0.001◦C when
carefully calibrated. Ship Injection Temperature, temperature of the water drawn into the
ship to cool the engines has been recorded routinely for decades, with the Accuracy of 0.5◦–
1◦C. Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer is used to measure regional and global
temperature patterns at the sea surface, with low accuracy.
Conductivity is measured by placing platinum electrodes in seawater and measuring
the current that flows when there is a known voltage between the electrodes. The current
depends on conductivity, voltage, and volume of sea water in the path between electrodes. It
has an accuracy of ±0.005.
Pressure is routinely measured by many different types of instruments. The SI unit of
pressure is the pascal(Pa), but oceanographers normally report pressure in decibars (dbar),
where1 dbar = 104Pa. The pressure in decibars is almost exactly equal to the depth in meters.
Thus 1000 dbaris the pressure at a depth of about 1000 m. Pressure is measured by various
equipment i.e: Strain Gauge, Vibratron, Quartz Crystal, Quartz Bourdon Gage.
Bathythermograph is a Mechanical device that measured temperature vs depth on a
smoked glass slide. Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) is an electronic device that
measures temperature vsdepth using a thermistor on a free-falling streamlined weight. The
thermistor is connected to an ohm-meter on the ship by a thin copper wire that is spooled out
from the sinking weight and from the moving ship. The xbt is now the most widely used
instrument for measuring the thermal structure of the upper ocean, with depth accuracy of 2%
and temperatre accuracy is 0.1 Celcius.
Nansen Bottles were deployed from ships stopped at hydrographic stations.
Hydrographic stations are places where oceanographers measure water properties from the
surface to some depth, or to the bottom, using instruments lowered from a ship. Usually 20
bottles were attached to a wire lowered over the side of the ship. A protected reversing
thermometer for measuring temperature was attached to each bottle along with an unprotected
reversing thermometer for measuring depth. The bottle contains a tube with valves on each end
to collect sea water at depth.
CTD is an electronical instrument to measure the temperature, conductivity and
pressure. The measurements are recorded in digital form either within the instrument as it is
lowered from a ship or on the ship.

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 Sound of the Ocean. Sound provides the only convenient means for transmitting
information over great distances in the ocean. Sound is used to measure the properties of the
sea floor, the depth of the ocean, temperature, and currents. Sound travels at 1480 m/s in the
ocean, and it varies because of temperature, less on pressure and very little on salinity. The
variability of sound speed as a function of pressure and temperature produces a horizontal
sound channel in the ocean. Sound in the channel can travel great distances. Low-frequency
sounds below 500 Hz can travel halfway around the world provided the path is not interrupted
by land.
Sound of the ocean can be used for many applications. The US Navy, in the 1950s,
placed arrays of microphones on the sea floor in deep and shallow water and connected them
to shore stations. The Sound Surveillance System SOSUS, although designed to track
submarines, has found many other uses. It has been used to listen to and track whales up to
1,700 km away, and to find the location of subsea volcanic eruptions.
Light in the ocean is caused by the sunlight. It Heats sea water, Warms the surface
layers; Provides energy required by phytoplankton; Used for navigation by animals near the
surface and Reflected subsurface light is used for mapping chlorophyll concentration from
space. If we want to know how much light reaches ocean depth, we use Light Radiance.
Radiance is the power per unit area per solid angle. It is useful for describing the energy in a
beam of light coming from a particular direction.
Ocean Clarity is varied because of the phytoplankton, pigments from land, and other
organic components. Sea water in the middle of the ocean is very clear—clearer than distilled
water. The clearest ocean water is called Type I waters. The water is so clear that 10% of the
light transmitted below the sea surface reaches a depth of 90 m.
Dissolved Oxygen is the level of free, non-compound oxygen present in water or other
liquids Dissolved oxygen is necessary to many forms of life including fish, invertebrates,
bacteria and plants. Dissolved oxygen enters water through the air or as a plant byproduct.
From the air, oxygen can slowly diffuse across the water’s surface from the surrounding
atmosphere, or be mixed in quickly through aeration he aeration of water can be caused by
wind (creating waves), rapids, waterfalls, ground water discharge or other forms of running
water Dissolved oxygen is also produced as a waste product of photosynthesis from
phytoplankton, algae, seaweed and other aquatic plants
Dissolved Oxygen Satureation. In a stable body of water with no stratification,
dissolved oxygen will remain at 100% air saturation. 100% air saturation means that the water
is holding as many dissolved gas molecules as it can in equilibrium. In deeper waters, DO can
remain below 100% due to the respiration of aquatic organisms and microbial decomposition.
These deeper levels of water often do not reach 100% air saturation equilibrium because they
are not shallow enough to be affected by the waves and photosynthesis at the surface.
Dissolved oxygen concentrations are constantly affected by diffusion and aeration,
photosynthesis, respiration and decomposition. While water equilibrates toward 100% air
saturation, dissolved oxygen levels will also fluctuate with temperature, salinity and pressure
changes. As such, dissolved oxygen levels can range from less than 1 mg/L to more than 20
mg/L depending on how all of these factors interact. In freshwater systems such as lakes, rivers
and streams, dissolved oxygen concentrations will vary by season, location and water depth.

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 Consequences of Unusual DO Levels are fish kill, gas bubble disease and dead zones.
Dissolved Oxygen can make a Water Column Startification. Stratification separates a
body of water into layers. This layering can be based on temperature or dissolved substances
(namely salt and oxygen) with both factors often playing a role
Dissolved oxygen is usually reported in milligrams per liter (mg/L) or as a percent of
air saturation. However, some studies will report DO in parts per million (ppm) or in
micromoles (umol). 1 mg/L is equal to 1 ppm. The relationship between mg/L and % air
saturation has been discussed above, and varies with temperature, pressure and salinity of the
water. One micromole of oxygen is equal to 0.022391 milligrams, and this unit is commonly
used in oceanic studies.
To calculate dissolved oxygen concentrations from air saturation, it is necessary to
know the temperature and salinity of the sample. The formula is :
O2 mg/L = (Measured % DO)*(DO value from chart at temperature and salinity)
Example:
 70% DO measured
 35 ppt salinity
 15°C
O2 mg/L = .70 * 8.135 = 5.69 mg/L DO.