me·te·or·ol·o·gy

/ˌmēdēəˈräləjē/

Learn to pronounce

noun
noun: meteorology
1. the branch of science concerned with the processes and phenomena of the atmosphere,
especially as a means of forecasting the weather.
"an induction course to learn basic meteorology"
o the climate and weather of a region.
"overwintering would allow the team to investigate the island's meteorology"
Origin

early 17th century: from Greek meteōrologia, from meteōron ‘of the atmosphere’

Meteorology and Marine Transportation

Contact:
Bulletin nº : 
Vol 58 (2) - 2009
by Peter Dexter1 and Phillip Parker2

In the beginning
According to the Book of Genesis, the third
day of the creation process saw the
separation of land and sea. This clearly
provided a medium for transportation over
long distances for the humans still to be
created and at the same time laid the
groundwork for the new science and
profession of marine meteorology. Since that
time, humanity has been simultaneously
fascinated and awed by the powers of the air
and sea, as well as anxious to understand and
exploit the processes observed. However,
lacking anything beyond a basic empirical knowledge, the early seafarers remained at the mercy
of wind, waves and currents and whatever was driving them:
Then Jove raised the North wind against us till it blew a hurricane, so that land and sky were
hidden in thick clouds, and night sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships run before the
gale, but the force of the wind tore our sails to tatters, so we took them down for fear of
shipwreck, and rowed our hardest towards the land. [1]
Homer attributed Odysseus’s maritime problems largely to the machinations of Poseidon, which
was as good an explanation as any at the time (Figure 1).
Perhaps the first serious attempt to provide
scientific and logical explanations for the
atmosphere, the ocean and the various
phenomena they engender was made by Aristotle
in his Meteorologica [2]. While the book is
  remarkable in its lucidity and level of
understanding, sadly it does not provide much in
the way of forecast guidance to the marine
meteorologist. Equally sadly, human scientific
understanding of our natural environment largely
stood still, or regressed, for centuries after that,
with more reliance being placed on myth than
Figure 1 — Poseidon giving Odysseus a scientific evidence and logic (Figure 2).
hard time   Fortunately, mariners, to survive and prosper,
Shelley Panton have to be intensely practical people. In
extending their trading and exploration voyages
    over wider and wider sea areas, and to more and
more distant lands, they accumulated a
formidable body of empirical knowledge of the
atmospheric and oceanic environment in which
they lived and worked. This knowledge would
eventually provide a sound basis for advances in
scientific understanding and the development of
predictive capabilities. Notable examples of the
application of such collective knowledge in the
provision of aids to navigation include Benjamin
 
Franklin’s chart of the Gulf Stream (Figure 3) and
the creation in 1805 by Sir Francis Beaufort of
the Beaufort wind force scale (Figure 4).
Variations on the latter are still in practical use to
this day.
From the middle of the 17th century onwards, the
invention and gradual refinement of scientific
instruments to measure atmospheric and oceanic
variables, together with the establishment,
    notably in Europe, of a network of weather

Figure 2 — Navigation by faith  

stations, led to the gradual development of the scientific basis of meteorology, and its application
in the service of the maritime community. However, it was from the middle of the 19th century,
with the first use of the newly invented electric telegraph to transmit weather observations in
1849 in Britain and the USA, followed by the Brussels Maritime Conference of 1853, that really
rapid development took place.

Figure

Figure 3 — Benjamin Franklin’s chart of the Gulf Stream    

     

Brussels 1853, establishment of National Meteorological Services, IMO

and maritime meteorology
Events leading to, surrounding, and as a consequence of, the Brussels Maritime Conference of
1853 have been well described in other publications, notably the WMO Bulletin articles by
Michel Hontarrede [3] and Bob Shearman [4] and in the proceedings of the iInternational
seminar to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the conference [5]. The following paragraphs
therefore provide a brief summary only.
The driving force behind the convening of the Brussels conference was Lt Matthew Fontaine
Maury of the US Navy, already well known and respected for his work on ocean currents and
winds. Although European scientists had been exchanging information for some time, the
conference represented the first truly international gathering to address cooperation and
standardization in meteorology. It brought together some 12 experts from 10 European countries
and the USA, and agreed notably on a standard format for ships logbooks, together with a set of
standard instructions for making and recording weather and ocean observations. The
international cooperation that was set in train by the Brussels conference led directly to the First
International Meteorological Congress in Vienna in 1873, and ultimately to the formal
establishment of the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the (non-governmental)
predecessor of WMO, in 1905.
In parallel with these international developments, most of what were, at that time, the great
powers were in the process of establishing their own national meteorological agencies during the
years 1850 to 1870. As in so much of early meteorology, this was stimulated by the needs of the
maritime community and, in the case of France, specifically by two major maritime disasters: the
loss in November 1854 of 38 French (Figure 5), English and Turkish ships engaged in the
Crimean War [5] and, in February 1855, the wreck of a French warship between Corsica and
Sardinia, with heavy loss of life. The person charged with setting up the French meteorological
service, Le Verrier, at the same time pioneered the use of the new electric telegraph as a key
element of a national meteorological observation network. All the new meteorological services
made observations and in many cases, attempted, with varying degrees of success, to forecast the
weather.

Figure 5 —
The sinking
of
the Henri I
V during the
siege of
Sebastopol
 in
November
1854 ([3]
and Musée
de la
Marine,
Paris)

A seminal event of the period for maritime meteorology was the invention of wireless telegraphy
at the dawn of the 20th century, which opened the possibility of two-way communications with
ships at sea. In 1905. the radiotelegraph was first used to relay weather reports from ships at sea
to coastal radio stations. Shortly after, in 1907, the International Meteorological Organization
moved to oblige all ships to be fitted with radio-telegraphy equipment, and to transmit
observations to shore, while it also created a new Technical Commission on Maritime
Meteorology. Thus began the modern era of meteorological service interaction with and support
for the maritime community.

Safety of life at sea

While the transition from sail to steam totally changed the nature of maritime transport during
the second half of the 19th century, it did not mean that shipping and the maritime community in
general became immediately any less vulnerable to extreme weather and related oceanic
manifestations (Figure 6). The sinking of the Titanic in 1911 with the loss of some 1 500 lives,
albeit avoidable, did lead to two major developments relating to maritime safety: the
establishment of the International Ice Patrol in the North Atlantic and, in 1914, the adoption of
the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), covering a wide range
of measures designed to improve the safety of shipping. It included measures relating to
meteorology and the safety of navigation. In particular, SOLAS called for coverage of all
shipping lanes and fishing grounds with weather forecasts broadcast by radio. This led to the
evolution of an international system for the collection of meteorological observations from the
oceans, the analysis of these observations and the subsequent preparation and broadcast of
meteorological bulletins to shipping. Over the years, The International Meteorological
Organization, its successor WMO, and maritime organizations, developed a coordinated system
of marine forecast and warning services covering both coastal waters and the high seas.
There have been four versions of SOLAS agreed since 1914, the most recent that of 1974, which
came into force in 1980. Since then, the convention has been supplemented, revised and updated
through the addition of a Protocol of 1978 and a series of amendments, all developed, reviewed
and adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). From the establishment of
WMO as an intergovernmental organization in 1950, its Commission on Maritime Meteorology
(later Commission for Marine Meteorology (CMM), now the Joint WMO/IOC Technical
Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM)) has worked closely with
IMO (and its predecessor the International Maritime Consultative Organization). It ensures that
the components of SOLAS relating to meteorological observations and the provision of
meteorological services conform to the latest scientific and technical developments in
meteorology and communications and, at the same time, responds to the needs and concerns of
the maritime community in regard to maritime safety. SOLAS now contains [6] a number of key
regulations relating to meteorological services, which put certain obligations on contracting
Governments, in particular to:

 … warn ships of gales, storms and tropical storms..

 … issue twice daily, by radio, weather bulletins suitable for shipping..
 … arrange for selected ships to be equipped with tested instruments…and to take
meteorological observations …
 … arrange for the reception and transmission … of weather messages from and to ships
…
 … conform to the technical regulations and recommendations made by the World
Meteoro-logical Organization …
These regulations are a concrete manifestation of the ongoing interdependence of meteorology
and the maritime community, as well as a strong commitment on the part of National
Meteorological Services in maritime countries to contribute to the extent possible to the safety of
life and property at sea.

Global Maritime Distress and Safety System and modern marine

meteorological services
The establishment in 1982 by IMO of the International Maritime Satellite System (INMARSAT)
ushered in a new era in maritime telecommunications, making use of the ongoing revolution in
telecommunications worldwide. This led in turn to the development by IMO of a whole new
system for maritime safety, incorporated into SOLAS as the 1988 Amendments for the Global
Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), which came into force in 1992, with full
implementation to occur by 1 February 1999. With the international adoption of GMDSS, marine
communications have been updated to reflect the advances in satellite and other communications
technology and Morse-code qualified radio officers are fast disappearing from ships.
With the launch of the first INMARSAT satellite, the development of GMDSS by IMO, and the
expected eventual disappearance of the traditional coastal (HF) radio stations, it was quickly
recognized by WMO and the National Meteorological Services providing maritime safety
services that they would need to adapt to, and take advantage of, the new regulations and
communications facilities.
During the 1980s, WMO, through CMM, and working closely with IMO, the International
Hydrographic Organization (IHO, responsible for the Worldwide Navigational Warning Service)
and representatives of international shipping through the International Chamber of Shipping,
developed a new WMO marine broadcast system for the GMDSS. This system was adopted on a
provisional basis in 1989 and in final form in 1993. It now forms an integral part of the WMO
Technical Regulations [7].
Under this broadcast system, the world’s oceans are divided into a network of Metareas
(Figure 7, identical to the Navareas of IHO), for each of which a specified National
Meteorological Service is obligated to ensure the broadcast, via INMARSAT, of meteorological
warnings and forecasts for shipping, according to a published broadcast schedule. In 2003, a new
Website was implemented by the French Meteorological Service, Météo France, which displays,
in real-time, the forecasts and warnings for all the 16 original Metareas [8]. Recently, IMO and
WMO agreed to implement five new Metareas covering Arctic waters, recognizing the growing
importance of these waters for maritime transport.
 Figure 7 — Metareas for the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System

Dissemination of meteorological warnings and forecasts to shipping is now an integral part of the
GMDSS system and GMDSS communications permit automatic shipboard receipt of weather
and navigation information by INMARSAT satellite communications, radiotelephony and radio-
telex (NAVTEX). Regularly scheduled weather, sea-state and ice forecasts, along with warnings
of tropical cyclones, gales, storms and other hazards, are now routed to ships at sea by
INMARSAT and NAVTEX broadcasts.
At present, meteorological warning and forecast information is normally presented to ships
officers in text format via a computer screen or printout. However, technological advances in the
electronic chart display system, developed originally under IHO to display navigational hazards
on board ships in electronic chart form, will allow ephemeral information such as meteorological
warnings and sea-ice information also to be displayed in this format. This approach will also
facilitate the replacement of the traditional meteorological chart transmission by HF radio
facsimile broadcast, much valued by mariners but gradually being phased out because of cost
pressures, by new forms of digital graphical broadcast and display.
The new maritime communications systems also provide a very efficient, accurate and reliable
means for the collection of real-time meteorological and oceanographic reports from ships at sea.
It should never be forgotten that such reports remain essential for meteorological analysis and
forecasting, and to the delivery of the accurate meteorological forecasts and warnings now
expected as routine by the public and many different specialized users. They also remain critical
to the provision of accurate maritime safety services. In addition, such data contribute
substantially to our knowledge and understanding of global climate, climate variability and
climate change.

Other national services

Formally, although the GMDSS provides communications carriage requirements for all sea areas
(VHF for near-shore, NAVTEX essentially for EEZs (to 200 nm) and INMARSAT for the high
seas), it represents an obligation only for vessels over 300 tonnes, registered in countries which
are signatories to SOLAS.
There are inevitably some gaps. For many countries, providing full coastal coverage by VHF and
NAVTEX facilities is simply not cost-effective, which means that other facilities have to be
implemented to reach vessels in these areas. A whole range of more or less seaworthy vessels
(and their crews!) are anyway not subject to GMDSS regulations, ranging from the local
fisherman’s “tinnie”* through coastal ferries and small freighters to cruising yachts and deep-sea
fishing vessels (Figure 6). At the same time, these account for the largest segment of users of
marine weather services overall. Often, the smaller vessels, and those operating in the coastal
zone, are the most weather-sensitive and thereby vulnerable to rapidly changing or deteriorating
weather and ocean conditions. Coastal conditions are often more rapidly changeable, reflecting
the complex interaction of the nearby land with ocean and weather systems. Consequently,
coastal mariners require a significantly higher level of detail about conditions likely to be
experienced. At the same time, in many parts of the world, the smaller users do not have ready
access to the communications technology required to access the services provided via the
contemporary systems that are used by the more sophisticated and better resourced operators that
ply the high seas.
National Meteorological Services provide a range of forecast and information services for the
many types of operators in coastal areas, in keeping with the identified needs of this sector.
Radio still provides a backbone for disseminating forecasts and bulletins of information in
coastal areas, while really near-shore users are
also taking advantage of new mobile phone
technologies to access a range of dial-up
weather services. VHF radio broadcasts of
weather information are provided in many
coastal areas around the world and are an
  indispensable element of maritime safety for
fishing, passenger transport, recreational craft
and coastal traders.
The nature of the forecasts and related
information provided for coastal zones reflects
the characteristics of the weather and oceans in
    different regions. For example, sea fog and
attendant low visibility are a significant hazard
Figure 8 — Fishing boats and other small to navigation in some coastal regions but are
vessels in coastal waters are especially   quite rare in others. Lee and funnelling effects
weather-sensitive.

FreeFoto.com  

   
may be common in areas where mountain ranges run alongside coastal areas. Complex coastal
geography, especially coastlines and disposition of island groupings, add further complexity to
the description of the meteorology and the amount of detail required to convey it to mariners.
As mentioned earlier, NAVTEX services provided as part of GMDSS are designed for coastal
and other users out to around 200 nm, but global coverage (of all coastlines) remains unlikely.
To cover gaps in NAVTEX and VHF coverage in some countries, such as Australia, coastal
forecasts are also broadcast as part of the GMDSS service via INMARSAT.

Where next?
The transition from sail to steam at the end of the 19th century and the consequent belief that the
safety of maritime transport might gradually become less critically dependent on meteorological
information, together with the advent of aviation as the primary focus for meteorological services
in the first half of the 20th century, resulted in some loosening of the traditional close ties
between meteorology and the mariner.
Recent years, however, have seen a reversal of this trend, with a number of factors each playing
a part: the recognition that a large majority of maritime safety incidents (up to 70 per cent)
remain weather-related (Figure 9); the new communications technologies described above,
which allow the reliable delivery of an enhanced range of maritime safety information to ships at
sea; the development of much more specialized shipping, requiring a balance among safety,
minimizing the potential for cargo damage, reducing voyage times and fuel costs and managing
increasingly busy ports and seaways; and the opening up of new sea routes, especially in polar
waters. All these factors are contributing to a new recognition of, and reliance on, the delivery of
high-quality meteorological and oceanographic information to ships at sea.
  

Figure 9 — Even large maritime transport today remains vulnerable to extremes of weather and sea

John Sayers, Australian Antarctic Division © Commonwealth of Australia

Yet another factor is now coming into play. Mankind retains a fascination with the age of sail,
and modern tall ships are an increasingly popular choice for deep ocean pleasure cruising (Figure
10). The priority with this type of ocean travel is to maximize safety for the passengers, while
providing them with an authentic experience under sail, which requires accurate and timely
information on future wind and sea conditions. At the same time, the current costs of fuel for
powered maritime transport, major concerns with carbon emissions from fossil fuels and a likely
increasing shortage of such fuels in the decades to come, are leading marine engineers and ship
designers to look once more at harnessing the wind as a means of at least partially powering
large marine transport vessels. While several different approaches are being considered here,
they all rely to a greater or lesser extent on wind propulsion. With such vessels, the concerns will
be to maximize wind usage, while delivering the most efficient and cost-effective route and
again preserving maritime safety.

Figure 10 — Modern tall

ships provide a nostalgic,
  exciting and pleasurable
approach to ocean
cruising.
Star Clippers – Australia
and New Zealand

The new age of sail, together with all the other developments in maritime transport, indicates that
the old symbiotic relationship between meteorology and the mariner is returning: meteorology
continues to depend critically on the observational data provide by the mariner at sea, while the
safety and efficiency of global shipping remains no less dependent on accurate and timely
meteorological and oceanographic information than it was more than 150 years ago, at the time
of Maury and the dawn of meteorological services for the mariner.
Acknowledgements
We are indebted for some of the background and historical material to the WMO Bulletin articles
by Michel Hontarrede and Bob Shearman, as well as to all speakers at the International Seminar
to Celebrate the Brussels Maritime Conference of 1853, Residence Palace, Brussels, 17-18
November 2003.
* Australian slang for a small recreational dinghy, often made of aluminium and propelled by
oars or an outboard motor 
References
[1] Homer, c. 800 BCE: The Odyssey, Book IX, tr. Samuel Butler.
[2] Aristotle, c. 350 BCE: Meteorologica, tr. E.W. Webster.
[3] Hontarrede, M., 1998: Meteorology and the maritime world: 150 years of constructive
cooperation. WMO Bulletin, 47 (1).
[4] Shearman, R., 2003: The growth of marine meteorology—a major support programme for the
World Weather Watch. WMO Bulletin, 52 (1).
[5] WMO, 2004: Proceedings of the International Seminar to Celebrate the Brussels Maritime
Conference of 1853. Brussels, November 2003, WMO/TD-No. 1226.
[6] IMO, 1992: SOLAS Consolidated Edition. IMO Publication IMO-110E and subsequent
amendments of 1992, 1994, …
[7] WMO, 2005: Manual on Marine Meteorological Services (Annex VI to the WMO Technical
Regulations). WMO-No. 551.
[8] Savina, H., 2004: Website for safety at sea: weather.gmdss.org. WMO Bulletin, 53 (2), 140-
141.
 
 Ocean Services Section, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, and
1

co-president of JCOMM

Oceanography (from the Ancient Greek ὠκεανός "ocean" and γράφω "write"), also known

as oceanology, is the scientific study of the ocean. It is an important Earth science, which covers a
wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid
dynamics; plate tectonics and the geology of the sea floor; and fluxes of various chemical
substances and physical properties within the ocean and across its boundaries.

Early history[edit]
Humans first acquired knowledge of the waves and currents of the seas and oceans in pre-historic
times. Observations on tides were recorded by Aristotle and Strabo in 384-322 BC.[1] Early
exploration of the oceans was primarily for cartography and mainly limited to its surfaces and of the
animals that fishermen brought up in nets, though depth soundings by lead line were taken.
The Portuguese campaign of Atlantic navigation is the earliest example of a systematic scientific
large project, sustained over many decades, studying the currents and winds of the Atlantic.
The work of Pedro Nunes (1502-1578), one of the great mathematicians, is remembered in the
navigation context for the determination of the loxodromic curve: the shortest course between two
points on the surface of a sphere represented onto a two-dimensional map. [2][3] When he published
his "Treatise of the Sphere" (1537)(mostly a commentated translation of earlier work by others) he
included a treatise on geometrical and astronomic methods of navigation. There he states clearly
that Portuguese navigations were not an adventurous endeavour:
"nam se fezeram indo a acertar: mas partiam os nossos mareantes muy ensinados e prouidos de
estromentos e regras de astrologia e geometria que sam as cousas que os cosmographos ham
dadar apercebidas (...) e leuaua cartas muy particularmente rumadas e na ja as de que os antigos
vsauam" (were not done by chance: but our seafarers departed well taught and provided with
instruments and rules of astrology (astronomy) and geometry which were matters the
cosmographers would provide (...) and they took charts with exact routes and no longer those used
by the ancient).[4]
His credibility rests on being personally involved in the instruction of pilots and senior seafarers from
1527 onwards by Royal appointment, along with his recognized competence as mathematician and
astronomer.[2] The main problem in navigating back from the south of the Canary Islands (or south
of Boujdour) by sail alone, is due to the change in the regime of winds and currents: the North
Atlantic gyre and the Equatorial counter current [5] will push south along the northwest bulge of Africa,
while the uncertain winds where the Northeast trades meet the Southeast trades (the
doldrums) [6] leave a sailing ship to the mercy of the currents. Together, prevalent current and wind
make northwards progress very difficult or impossible. It was to overcome this problem and clear the
passage to India around Africa as a viable maritime trade route, that a systematic plan of exploration
was devised by the Portuguese. The return route from regions south of the Canaries became the
'volta do largo' or 'volta do mar'. The 'rediscovery' of the Azores islands in 1427 is merely a reflection
of the heightened strategic importance of the islands, now sitting on the return route from the
western coast of Africa (sequentially called 'volta de Guiné' and 'volta da Mina'); and the references
to the Sargasso Sea (also called at the time 'Mar da Baga'), to the west of the Azores, in 1436,
reveals the western extent of the return route.[7] This is necessary, under sail, to make use of the
southeasterly and northeasterly winds away from the western coast of Africa, up to the northern
latitudes where the westerly winds will bring the seafarers towards the western coasts of Europe. [8]
The secrecy involving the Portuguese navigations, with the death penalty for the leaking of maps
and routes, concentrated all sensitive records in the Royal Archives, completely destroyed by
the Lisbon earthquake of 1775. However, the systematic nature of the Portuguese campaign,
mapping the currents and winds of the Atlantic, is demonstrated by the understanding of the
seasonal variations, with expeditions setting sail at different times of the year taking different routes
to take account of seasonal predominate winds. This happens from as early as late 15th century and
early 16th: Bartolomeu Dias followed the African coast on his way south in August 1487,
while Vasco da Gama would take an open sea route from the latitude of Sierra Leone, spending 3
months in the open sea of the South Atlantic to profit from the southwards deflection of the
southwesterly on the Brazilian side (and the Brazilian current going southward) - Gama departed in
July 1497); and Pedro Alvares Cabral, departing March 1500) took an even larger arch to the west,
from the latitude of Cape Verde, thus avoiding the summer monsoon (which would have blocked the
route taken by Gama at the time he set sail).[9] Furthermore, there were systematic expeditions
pushing into the western Northern Atlantic (Teive, 1454; Vogado, 1462; Teles, 1474; Ulmo, 1486).
[10]
 The documents relating to the supplying of ships, and the ordering of sun declination tables for the
southern Atlantic for as early as 1493–1496,[11] all suggest a well-planned and systematic activity
happening during the decade long period between Bartolomeu Dias finding the southern tip of Africa,
and Gama's departure; additionally, there are indications of further travels by Bartolomeu Dias in the
area.[7] The most significant consequence of this systematized knowledge was the negotiation of
the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, moving the line of demarcation 270 leagues to the west (from 100
to 370 leagues west of the Azores), bringing what is now Brazil into the Portuguese area of
domination. The knowledge gathered from open sea exploration allowed for the well documented
extended periods of sail without sight of land, not by accident but as pre-determined planned route;
for example, 30 days for Bartolomeu Dias culminating on Mossel Bay, the 3 months Gama spend on
the Southern Atlantic to use the Brazil current (southward), or the 29 days Cabral took from Cape
Verde up to landing in Monte Pascoal, Brazil.
The Danish expedition to Arabia 1761-67 can be said to be the world's first oceanographic
expedition, as the ship Grønland had on board a group of scientists, including naturalist Peter
Forsskål, who was assigned an explicit task by the king, Frederik V, to study and describe the
marine life in the open sea, including finding the cause of mareel, or milky seas. For this purpose,
the expedition was equipped with nets and scrapers, specifically designed to collect samples from
the open waters and the bottom at great depth. [12]
Although Juan Ponce de León in 1513 first identified the Gulf Stream, and the current was well
known to mariners, Benjamin Franklin made the first scientific study of it and gave it its name.
Franklin measured water temperatures during several Atlantic crossings and correctly explained the
Gulf Stream's cause. Franklin and Timothy Folger printed the first map of the Gulf Stream in 1769–
1770.[13][14]

1799 map of the currents in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, by James Rennell

Information on the currents of the Pacific Ocean was gathered by explorers of the late 18th century,
including James Cook and Louis Antoine de Bougainville. James Rennell wrote the first scientific
textbooks on oceanography, detailing the current flows of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. During a
voyage around the Cape of Good Hope in 1777, he mapped "the banks and currents at the
Lagullas". He was also the first to understand the nature of the intermittent current near the Isles of
Scilly, (now known as Rennell's Current). [15]
Sir James Clark Ross took the first modern sounding in deep sea in 1840, and Charles
Darwin published a paper on reefs and the formation of atolls as a result of the second voyage of
HMS  Beagle in 1831–1836. Robert FitzRoy published a four-volume report of Beagle's three
voyages. In 1841–1842 Edward Forbes undertook dredging in the Aegean Sea that founded marine
ecology.
The first superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory (1842–1861), Matthew Fontaine
Maury devoted his time to the study of marine meteorology, navigation, and charting prevailing
winds and currents. His 1855 textbook Physical Geography of the Sea was one of the first
comprehensive oceanography studies. Many nations sent oceanographic observations to Maury at
the Naval Observatory, where he and his colleagues evaluated the information and distributed the
results worldwide.[16]

Modern oceanography[edit]
Knowledge of the oceans remained confined to the topmost few fathoms of the water and a small
amount of the bottom, mainly in shallow areas. Almost nothing was known of the ocean depths. The
British Royal Navy's efforts to chart all of the world's coastlines in the mid-19th century reinforced the
vague idea that most of the ocean was very deep, although little more was known. As exploration
ignited both popular and scientific interest in the polar regions and Africa, so too did the mysteries of
the unexplored oceans.
HMS  Challenger undertook the first global marine research expedition in 1872.

The seminal event in the founding of the modern science of oceanography was the 1872–
1876 Challenger expedition. As the first true oceanographic cruise, this expedition laid the
groundwork for an entire academic and research discipline. [17] In response to a recommendation from
the Royal Society, the British Government announced in 1871 an expedition to explore world's
oceans and conduct appropriate scientific investigation. Charles Wyville Thompson and Sir John
Murray launched the Challenger expedition. Challenger, leased from the Royal Navy, was modified
for scientific work and equipped with separate laboratories for natural history and chemistry.[18] Under
the scientific supervision of Thomson, Challenger travelled nearly 70,000 nautical miles
(130,000 km) surveying and exploring. On her journey circumnavigating the globe, [18] 492 deep sea
soundings, 133 bottom dredges, 151 open water trawls and 263 serial water temperature
observations were taken.[19] Around 4,700 new species of marine life were discovered. The result
was the Report Of The Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the
years 1873–76. Murray, who supervised the publication, described the report as "the greatest
advance in the knowledge of our planet since the celebrated discoveries of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries". He went on to found the academic discipline of oceanography at the University
of Edinburgh, which remained the centre for oceanographic research well into the 20th century.
[20]
 Murray was the first to study marine trenches and in particular the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and map
the sedimentary deposits in the oceans. He tried to map out the world's ocean currents based on
salinity and temperature observations, and was the first to correctly understand the nature of coral
reef development.
In the late 19th century, other Western nations also sent out scientific expeditions (as did private
individuals and institutions). The first purpose built oceanographic ship, Albatros, was built in 1882.
In 1893, Fridtjof Nansen allowed his ship, Fram, to be frozen in the Arctic ice. This enabled him to
obtain oceanographic, meteorological and astronomical data at a stationary spot over an extended
period.

Ocean currents (1911)
Writer and geographer John Francon Williams FRGS commemorative plaque, Clackmannan Cemetery 2019

In 1881 the geographer John Francon Williams published a seminal book, Geography of the

Oceans.[21][22][23] Between 1907 and 1911 Otto Krümmel published the Handbuch der Ozeanographie,
which became influential in awakening public interest in oceanography. [24] The four-month 1910 North
Atlantic expedition headed by John Murray and Johan Hjort was the most ambitious research
oceanographic and marine zoological project ever mounted until then, and led to the classic 1912
book The Depths of the Ocean.
The first acoustic measurement of sea depth was made in 1914. Between 1925 and 1927 the
"Meteor" expedition gathered 70,000 ocean depth measurements using an echo sounder, surveying
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
In 1934, Easter Ellen Cupp, the first woman to have earned a PhD (at Scripps) in the United States,
completed a major work on diatoms that remained the standard taxonomy in the field until well after
her death in 1999. In 1940, Cupp was let go from her position at Scripps. Sverdrup specifically
commended Cupp as a conscientious and industrious worker and commented that his decision was
no reflection on her ability as a scientist. Sverdrup used the instructor billet vacated by Cupp to
employ Marston Sargent,a biologist studying marine algae, which was not a new research program
at Scripps. Financial pressures did not prevent Sverdrup from retaining the services of two other
young post-doctoral students, Walter Munk and Roger Revelle. Cupp's partner, Dorothy Rosenbury,
found her a position teaching high school, where she remained for the rest of her career. (Russell,
2000)
Sverdrup, Johnson and Fleming published The Oceans in 1942,[25] which was a major landmark. The
Sea (in three volumes, covering physical oceanography, seawater and geology) edited by M.N. Hill
was published in 1962, while Rhodes Fairbridge's Encyclopedia of Oceanography was published in
1966.
The Great Global Rift, running along the Mid Atlantic Ridge, was discovered by Maurice
Ewing and Bruce Heezen in 1953 and mapped by Heezen and Marie Tharp using bathymetric data;
in 1954 a mountain range under the Arctic Ocean was found by the Arctic Institute of the USSR. The
theory of seafloor spreading was developed in 1960 by Harry Hammond Hess. The Ocean Drilling
Program started in 1966. Deep-sea vents were discovered in 1977 by Jack Corliss and Robert
Ballard in the submersible DSV  Alvin.
In the 1950s, Auguste Piccard invented the bathyscaphe and used the bathyscaphe Trieste to
investigate the ocean's depths. The United States nuclear submarine Nautilus made the first journey
under the ice to the North Pole in 1958. In 1962 the FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform), a 355-foot
(108 m) spar buoy, was first deployed.
In 1968, Tanya Atwater led the first all-woman oceanographic expedition. Until that time, gender
policies restricted women oceanographers from participating in voyages to a significant extent.
From the 1970s, there has been much emphasis on the application of large scale computers to
oceanography to allow numerical predictions of ocean conditions and as a part of overall
environmental change prediction. Early techniques included analog computers (such as the Ishiguro
Storm Surge Computer) generally now replaced by numerical methods (eg SLOSH.) An
oceanographic buoy array was established in the Pacific to allow prediction of El Niño events.
1990 saw the start of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) which continued until
2002. Geosat seafloor mapping data became available in 1995.
Study of the oceans is critical to understanding shifts in Earth's energy balance along with related
global and regional changes in climate, the biosphere and biogeochemistry. The atmosphere and
ocean are linked because of evaporation and precipitation as well as thermal flux (and
solar insolation). Recent studies have advanced knowledge on ocean acidification, ocean heat
content, ocean currents, sea level rise, the oceanic carbon cycle, the water cycle, Arctic sea ice
decline, coral bleaching, marine heatwaves, extreme weather, coastal erosion and many other
phenomena in regards to ongoing climate change and climate feedbacks.
In general, understanding the world ocean through further scientific study enables
better stewardship and sustainable utilization of Earth's resources.