Synoptic Processes in the Atmosphere and the Ocean

Abstract

Study of synoptic processes in the ocean and development of methods for their prediction becomes one of the burning problems of ocean hydrodynamics. The comparison to the atmospheric processes and the disclosure of similarities and differences may help in speeding up the solution of this problem. The essence of the phenomenologic model of the general atmospheric circulation is given in brief. A description is presented of the differences in the origin of the large-scale currents in the ocean and the atmosphere, in density stratification and in dependent processes. Typical horizontal scales, motion velocities and lifetimes of synoptic disturbances in the ocean and the atmosphere are discussed. Different mechanisms of generation are considered, and a brief classification of synoptic motions in the ocean is given. A complexity of the wave field in the ocean is shown to be due to a great variety and a wide distribution of wave generation mechanisms, weak attenuation and on an ability of reflecting from the coasts.