Wave Motion in the Ocean and the Atmosphere
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this advanced course on geophysical wave motion in rotating, stratified, and rotating-stratified fluids. Lectures build from general wave concepts, phase velocity and group velocity, into the dynamics and kinematics of gravity waves, covering dispersion, energy flux, and initial value problems. The course targets students with a background in fluid dynamics who want to understand how waves propagate through the ocean and atmosphere. Materials include lecture notes, problem sets, and readings drawn from MIT's Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences curriculum. As with other MIT OCW offerings, all course materials are free to access, with no certificate offered. This is not an introductory survey; it assumes familiarity with continuum mechanics and vector calculus, and it is best suited to graduate or advanced undergraduate students in earth science, physics, or engineering who need a rigorous grounding in wave theory.