Introduction to Observational Physical Oceanography
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this advanced-level course covering the physical description of the sea, properties of seawater, and the instruments and methods used to measure them. Lectures move through wind-driven ocean circulation, abyssal circulation, boundary processes, and wave motions, building a working picture of how the ocean moves and why. Materials include lecture notes and problem sets drawn from MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences curriculum, free to access online. The course suits students who already have a physics and math background and want the observational side of oceanography, how measurements at sea translate into the circulation models used to describe currents and mixing. No certificate is offered, consistent with MIT OpenCourseWare's model of publishing course materials rather than running an instructed class.