Physical oceanography

Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters. Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is divided. Others include biological, chemical and geological oceanography. Like the study of atmospheric physics, physical oceanography is founded upon principles of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. Physical oceanography may be subdivided into descriptive and dynamical physical oceanography. Descriptive physical oceanography seeks to research the ocean through observations and complex numerical models that describe temperature, salinity, density, currents and other ocean features as accurately and completely as possible. Dynamical physical oceanography focuses primarily upon the processes that govern the motion of fluids with emphasis upon theoretical research and numerical models. These are part of the large field of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (GFD) that is shared together with meteorology. GFD is a sub field of fluid dynamics describing flows occurring on spatial and temporal scales that are greatly influenced by the Coriolis force.