D04 – Physical Oceanography
Introduce physical oceanography for offshore and civil engineering learners, building from sea-water properties and governing equations to rotating, stratified, wind-driven and tidal ocean processes, with a focus on engineering interpretation.
£299.00
20 hours
Focused, self-paced learning designed to fit around professional schedules.
Online, self-paced
Study online at a pace that fits your schedule.
11 sections
Structured curriculum sections.
English
Language of instruction for this course.
39 lessons
Focused lessons organised into a clear learning path.
Course overview
Designed for: engineering graduates looking for refresher courses in niche expert areas.
Entry requirements: an engineering degree or equivalent experience, plus calculus including partial derivatives, vectors and basic fluid mechanics.
What you will learn
Interpret how temperature, salinity, pressure, and density structure sea water and identify water masses from T-S relationships.
Derive the core conservation equations used in physical oceanography, including mass, momentum, salt, and heat equations in a rotating frame.
Apply Reynolds averaging, scale analysis, and leading-order balances to simplify ocean equations for large-scale flow.
Use geostrophic balance, thermal wind, Taylor-Proudman reasoning, and vorticity concepts to explain observed circulation patterns.
Explain wind-driven, thermohaline, and ENSO-related circulation using physical mechanisms relevant to offshore and coastal systems.
Interpret the origin and behavior of tides, including tidal constituents, spring-neap variability, and amphidromic systems.
Skills and knowledge
Sea water properties
Equations of motion
Coriolis dynamics
Turbulence modeling
Geostrophic flow
Wind-driven circulation
Thermohaline circulation
Tides
Course curriculum
Introduction
1.1 Welcome
Properties of Sea Water
2.1 Temperature, Salinity, and Density
2.2 Stratification and Vertical Structure
2.3 T-S Diagrams and Water Masses
2.4 Quiz 1
Equations of Motion
3.1 Material Derivative and Continuity
3.2 Momentum, Pressure, and Stress
3.3 Salt and Heat Conservation
3.4 Quiz 2
Coriolis and Rotating Earth
4.1 Frames of Reference
4.2 Coriolis Components and f
4.3 Rossby Number and Intuition
4.4 Quiz 3
Reynolds Averaging and Scaling
5.1 Reynolds Decomposition
5.2 Eddy Viscosity and Closure
5.3 Scaling and Ocean Approximations
5.4 Quiz 4
Geostrophic Balance and Vorticity
6.1 Hydrostatic and Geostrophic Balance
6.2 Thermal Wind
6.3 Taylor-Proudman and Columns
6.4 Vorticity, Eddies, and Topography
6.5 Quiz 5
Wind-Driven Circulation
7.1 Ekman Spiral and Transport
7.2 Coastal Upwelling and Pumping
7.3 Sverdrup, Stommel, and Munk
7.4 Quiz 6
Thermohaline Circulation
8.1 Water Mass Formation
8.2 Conveyor and Abyssal Circulation
8.3 Stratification, Exchange, and Internal Waves
8.4 Quiz 7
El Niño and ENSO
9.1 Walker Circulation and Normal State
9.2 ENSO Mechanism
9.3 Climate and Engineering Impacts
9.4 Quiz 8
Tides
10.1 Tidal Forcing and Equilibrium Theory
10.2 Constituents and Spring-Neap Cycles
10.3 Higher Harmonics and Amphidromes
10.4 Quiz 9
Summary
11.1 Key Takeaways
Ready to enrol?
£299.00