2004 program of study : tides

Funding was provided by the Office of Naval Research under Contract No. N00014-04-1-0157 and the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCE-0325296.

The summer of 2004 saw the GFD program tackle “Tides”. Myrl Hendershott (ScrippsInstitution of Oceanography) gave a fabulous introduction to the subject in the first weekof the course, laying the foundations from astronomy and classical geophysicalfluid dynamics. In the second week, Chris Garrett (University of Victoria) admirably followedup with recent developments on the subject, including the recent observations from satellitealtimetry, their implications to mixing and circulation, and even a memorable lecture onthe noble theme of how we might solve the world's energy crisis. The principal lecturesproved unusually popular this summer, and the seminar room at Walsh often overflowed in thefirst two weeks.Following on from the lectures, the seminar schedule of the summer covered in greaterdetail the oceanographic issues with which researchers are actively grappling. We alsoheard about related problems regarding atmospheric, planetary and stellar tides, togetherwith the usual mix of topics on GFD in general.The summer once again featured a lecture for the general public in the Woods Holearea. Carl Wunsch delivered a very well received lecture entitled “Climate Change Stories”,in which he gave an impression of how scientists generally believe our climate is currentlychanging, whilst simultaneously urging caution against some of the more outrageous andexaggerated claims. The lecture was held at Lilly Auditorium, thanks to the hospitalityof the Marine Biology Laboratory. The reception following the lecture was enjoyed byall.Neil Balmforth and Stefan Llewellyn Smith acted as Co-Directors for the summer.Janet Fields, Jeanne Fleming and Penny Foster provided the administrative backbone tothe Program, both during the summer and throughout the year beforehand. As always,we were grateful to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the use of Walsh Cottage,and Keith Bradley's solid service could not be overlooked. Shilpa Ghadge and ShreyasMandre are to be thanked for their part in comforting the fellows, developing the summer'sproceedings volume (available on the GFD web site) and for running the computer network.