Instead of releasing actual floats, we can dispatch synthetic ones--imaginary particles that follow the currents in state-of-the-art computer models that simulate
ocean circulation. In the digital realm, millions of these drifters can be released to trace the pathways of seawater anywhere in the world.
The Gravity Field and Steady-State
Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) was launched into orbit in 2009 to circle the Earth and measure fluctuations in the planet's gravity.
Heimbach, "Dynamically and kinematically consistent global
ocean circulation and ice state estimates," in
Ocean Circulation and Climate: A 21st Century Perspective, G.
Endeavour will provide large, shared memory capability and will enable solutions for many NASA science and engineering applications, including simulation and modeling of global
ocean circulation, galaxy and planet formation, and aerodynamic design for air and space vehicles.
Research led by Cardiff University, with scientists in the UK and US, reveals that these
ocean circulation changes may have been more dramatic than previously thought.
Our results show that the deep currents near the Kerguelen Plateau make a large contribution to this global
ocean circulation.'
An iceberg the size of Luxembourg has broken off from a glacier in Antarctica after being rammed by another giant iceberg, scientists have said, in an event that could affect
ocean circulation patterns.
Through examination of sailors' and explorers' observations, the influence of Scandinavian techniques on German-speaking geographers, and the eventual development of shared quantitative practices and ideas, Mills reveals how the transition to a mathematical approach was less a march of progress and more an evolution and incorporation of ideas about
ocean circulation in a variety of personal, national, and scientific contexts.
So by gathering this data from around the world, scientists can trace
ocean circulation patterns.
This can alter
ocean circulation patterns because of the density difference between fresh and salt water.
But this is natural, due to
ocean circulation changes and other factors.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour, together with changes in
ocean circulation and productivity, all produce positive feedbacks to small changes in climate induced by Milankovitch changes in radiative forcing.
