I am SO excited that someone finally did this! From the code that brought you this amazing wind map comes this map of surface currents. Look at the squiggles in the Atlantic Gulf Stream, that giant eddy in the Gulf and all that really sluggish offshore flow on the Pacific Side. Seriously West Coast, Y U so boring?! Click on the pic to head to the site and get the full animated effect.
Stare deeply into my eddies and meanders. [http://testbedwww.sura.org/ocean/]What is exceptionally cool about this current map is all the work that went on behind the scenes to bring you what it a relatively simple picture of the ocean. Screw the meteorologists and their weather, this is an ocean forecast people! Using a model governed by the laws of ocean physics oceanographers can predict surface currents by assimilating all the data like the BORG. This includes winds from atmospheric models, satellite sea surface heights, satellite sea surface temperature, currents from land-based radars, coastal tide gauges and even subsurface salinity and temperature sections taken by ocean robots (aka gliders). This represents years of work by hundreds of scientists.
So please, sit back and appreciate the awesomeness of sea science while watching the gorgeous, sinuous streams of our ocean’s currents.
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I like it, the Atlantic looks like a painting my sister did (with lots of paint.)
So cool. I love the many gyres in the Atlantic! Amazing complexity.