Simulated Sea Surface Speed 

The speed of the ocean water near the surface, or sea surface speed, is influenced by many factors including surface winds, tides, diurnal cycles, atmospheric pressure forcings, as well as other dynamic and thermodynamic forces. Scientists use model simulations like this one—carried out by the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO2) group using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model—to help resolve sea surface speeds in ultra-high resolution. Light blue shades represent relatively fast sea surface speeds and darker shades of blue represent slower speeds. While winds near the surface of the ocean are the largest source of momentum for the ocean surface speed, the effects of several other oceanic characteristics are also visible, including the influence of tides, internal waves, and diurnal cycles. Several well known ocean features such as the Agulhas Current near the southwest Indian Ocean; the Gulf Steam along the Eastern United States; the north-flowing Kuroshio Current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean near Japan; and water flowing out from the mouth of the Amazon River are also visible. The period of the visualization covers September 2011 through January 2012. The numerical formulation includes ocean circulation and tidal forcing and uses atmospheric state from reanalysis at a global resolution of about 1/4 degree. 


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