The Ocean Circulation Inverse Problem

This book addresses the problem of inferring the state of the ocean circulation, from a mathematical perspective.

Carl Wunsch (Author)

9780521480901, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 June 1996

458 pages, 140 b/w illus. 5 colour illus. 6 tables
26.2 x 19 x 2.7 cm, 1.072 kg

' … should prove to be a very good introductory text'. G. Zimmerman, Mainz

The movement of oceanic water has important consequences for a variety of applications, such as climate change, biological productivity, sea-level change, weather forecasting, and many others. This book addresses the problem of inferring the state of the ocean circulation, understanding it dynamically, and even forecasting it through a quantitative combination of theory and observation. It focuses on so-called inverse methods and related methods of statistical inference. Both time-independent and time-dependent problems are considered, including Gauss-Markov estimation, sequential estimators and adjoint/Pontryagin principle methods. This book is intended for use as a graduate level text for students of oceanography and other related fields. It will also be of interest to working physical oceanographers.

Preface
Notation
1. Introduction
2. Physics of the ocean circulation
3. Basic machinery
4. The steady ocean circulation inverse problem
5. Additional useful methods
6. The time-dependent inverse problem
References.

Subject Areas: Applied mathematics [PBW]