Preface
Until the 1980s, a tacit agreement among many physical oceanographers
was that nothing deserving attention could be found in the upper few meters
of the ocean. The lack of adequete knowledge about the near-surface layer of
the ocean was mainly due to the fact that the widely used oceanographic
instruments (such as bathythermographs, CTDs, current meters, etc.) were
practically useless in the upper few meters of the ocean. Interest in the nearsurface layer of the ocean rapidly increased along with the development of
remote sensing techniques. The interpretation of ocean surface signals
sensed from satellites demanded thorough knowledge of upper ocean
processes and their connection to the ocean interior.
Despite its accessibility to the investigator, the near-surface layer of the
ocean is not a simple subject of experimental study. Random, sometimes
huge, vertical motions of the ocean surface due to surface waves are a
serious complication for collecting quality data close to the ocean surface.
The supposedly minor problem of avoiding disturbances from ships’ wakes
has frustrated several generations of oceanographers attempting to take
reliable data from the upper few meters of the ocean. Important practical
applications nevertheless demanded action, and as a result several pioneering
works in the 1970s and 1980s laid the foundation for the new subject of
oceanography – the near-surface layer of the ocean.
In 1988, K.N. Fedorov and A.I. Ginzburg published a monograph “The
Near-Surface Layer of the Ocean”, which summarized many of the new
results but which was printed in limited numbers. In 1992 this book was
translated into English. Since the publication of Fedorov’s book, this area of
research has dramatically advanced. Numerous exciting new experimental
and theoretical results have been obtained. The idea of the importance of the
ocean-atmosphere coupling on small scales found its practical realization in
the TOGA COARE program which took place between 1992 and 1994. The
concept of one-dimensional upper ocean dynamics has been enriched with
the consideration of three-dimensional spatial structures. In particular,
spatially coherent organized motions are attracting more attention.
Our book provides a comprehensive account of the structures and
dynamics of the near-surface layer of the ocean under different
environmental conditions. Fedorov’s pioneering monograph attempted to
achieve this objective, but it had unfortunate gaps and redundancies. Now it
is possible to provide a more coherent presentation of this important subject.
In this book, detailed treatment is given to the following topics:
molecular sublayers, turbulence and waves, buoyancy effects, fine
thermohaline structure of the near-surface layer of the ocean, spatially
Until the 1980s, a tacit agreement among many physical oceanographers
was that nothing deserving attention could be found in the upper few meters
of the ocean. The lack of adequete knowledge about the near-surface layer of
the ocean was mainly due to the fact that the widely used oceanographic
instruments (such as bathythermographs, CTDs, current meters, etc.) were
practically useless in the upper few meters of the ocean. Interest in the nearsurface layer of the ocean rapidly increased along with the development of
remote sensing techniques. The interpretation of ocean surface signals
sensed from satellites demanded thorough knowledge of upper ocean
processes and their connection to the ocean interior.
Despite its accessibility to the investigator, the near-surface layer of the
ocean is not a simple subject of experimental study. Random, sometimes
huge, vertical motions of the ocean surface due to surface waves are a
serious complication for collecting quality data close to the ocean surface.
The supposedly minor problem of avoiding disturbances from ships’ wakes
has frustrated several generations of oceanographers attempting to take
reliable data from the upper few meters of the ocean. Important practical
applications nevertheless demanded action, and as a result several pioneering
works in the 1970s and 1980s laid the foundation for the new subject of
oceanography – the near-surface layer of the ocean.
In 1988, K.N. Fedorov and A.I. Ginzburg published a monograph “The
Near-Surface Layer of the Ocean”, which summarized many of the new
results but which was printed in limited numbers. In 1992 this book was
translated into English. Since the publication of Fedorov’s book, this area of
research has dramatically advanced. Numerous exciting new experimental
and theoretical results have been obtained. The idea of the importance of the
ocean-atmosphere coupling on small scales found its practical realization in
the TOGA COARE program which took place between 1992 and 1994. The
concept of one-dimensional upper ocean dynamics has been enriched with
the consideration of three-dimensional spatial structures. In particular,
spatially coherent organized motions are attracting more attention.
Our book provides a comprehensive account of the structures and
dynamics of the near-surface layer of the ocean under different
environmental conditions. Fedorov’s pioneering monograph attempted to
achieve this objective, but it had unfortunate gaps and redundancies. Now it
is possible to provide a more coherent presentation of this important subject.
In this book, detailed treatment is given to the following topics:
molecular sublayers, turbulence and waves, buoyancy effects, fine
thermohaline structure of the near-surface layer of the ocean, spatially