Matthias Tomczak Exercises in Physical Oceanography

Exercise 3: Averaging methods for vector time series.

This is one in a series of advanced exercises in physical oceanography. All exercises are structured in the same way. Because they are developed for classroom use they are set to be completed in a given time. This exercise is set to be completed in 1 hour and 30 minutes. This is a very generous time allocation, which should give you plenty of time even if you are doing the exercise on the web at a location where image loading is slow.

At the beginning of each new page you will be told how much time you have left. Every now and then you will also be told how much time you should have left. This allows you to check your progress. If you are way ahead and get to the end of the exercise with much time to spare you will have an opportunity to revisit the material.

Should you run out of time you can always repeat the exercise. Eventually you should be able to complete the entire exercise in the given time frame.

At certain points during the exercise you will be asked questions about the material. You are welcome and indeed invited to take notes as you go along and use your notes to answer the questions. If you study the exercises as part of a course it is a good idea to keep your notes for later studies when you prepare yourself for the end of term examination. Of course, many scientists, lecturers and students believe that notes can also be kept beyond the examination date and be useful later in life ...

So let us start with Exercise 3: Averaging methods for vector time series, demonstrated with wind observations and the calculation of wind stress.

This exercise assumes the knowledge of vector plotting methods. If you are not familiar with such methods you should do Exercise 2 first.