Why do

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The Color We See Our eyes are able to see the
color that is reflected or scattered off an
object. We cannot usually see the colors that
are absorbed by an object. If all light reflects
off an object, the object appears white. If all
light is absorbed by an object, the object
appears black. A red crab appears red because it
reflects red light and absorbs all other colors.
Why do the ocean and the sky look blue?
Created by Leeanne Hazzard Fabrice Veron,
2007 Air-Sea Interaction Laboratory College of
Marine and Earth Studies University of Delaware
1. Ahrens, C. D. (2005). Essentials of
Meteorology An Invitation to the Atmosphere (4th
ed.). California Thomson. 2. Chase, V. (2007,
January 24). Learning Ocean Science through Ocean
Exploration Section 5 - Ocean Zones. NOAA.
Retrieved July 2, 2007, from http//oceanexplorer.
noaa.gov/edu/curriculum/section5.pdf 3. Ocean
Explorer. (2006, March 21). NOAA. Retrieved July
5, 2007, from http//oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explor
ations/04deepscope/background/deeplight/media/diag
ram3.html 4. Stewart, R. H. (2005). An
Introduction to Physical Oceanography. Texas
Texas A M University.
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http//eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/EDDOCS/Wavelengths_for
_Colors.html
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Created by Leeanne Hazzard Fabrice Veron,
2007 Air-Sea Interaction Laboratory College of
Marine and Earth Studies University of Delaware
1. Ahrens, C. D. (2005). Essentials of
Meteorology An Invitation to the Atmosphere (4th
ed.). California Thomson. 2. Chase, V. (2007,
January 24). Learning Ocean Science through Ocean
Exploration Section 5 - Ocean Zones. NOAA.
Retrieved July 2, 2007, from http//oceanexplorer.
noaa.gov/edu/curriculum/section5.pdf 3. Stewart,
R. H. (2005). An Introduction to Physical
Oceanography. Texas Texas A M University.
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Ocean vs. Land Both the ocean and the land
continuously exchange heat with the atmosphere,
however, the land stores and releases much less
heat than the ocean.
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Characteristics of Ocean Water The water in the
ocean heats and cools at a very slow rate.
Throughout the day, the ocean absorbs heat from
the sun and during the night the ocean holds in
the heat permitting only small changes in
temperature.
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North Carolina Measurements were taken from two
locations, Cape Lookout, N.C. and a deep-sea buoy
off the coast of N.C. The stations were
positioned at the latitude 34.6N and separated
by only 192 miles. Despite their closeness, the
air temperatures at each of these stations
differed greatly during the months from November
to March. Taking a closer look at the air and
water temperatures recorded by the deep-sea buoy,
it is evident that during the winter months the
warm ocean water radiates heat into the air,
causing the air temperatures above the ocean to
rise.
Effect of Ocean Water on Coastal
Temperatures Locations along the coast do not
experience very drastic changes in weather. The
ocean stores heat in the summer, releases it in
the winter, and then starts the cycle over again.
As a result of this cycle, winters along the
coast tend to be warmer than winters inland and
summers along the coast tend to be cooler than
summers inland.
Created by Leeanne Hazzard Fabrice Veron,
2007 Air-Sea Interaction Laboratory College of
Marine and Earth Studies University of Delaware
1. Are air temperatures the same over land and
water? (2002, April 16). National Data Buoy
Center NOAA. Retrieved on July 5, 2007, from
http//www.ndbc.noaa.gov/educate/temps.shtml 2.
Stewart, R. H. (2005). An Introduction to
Physical Oceanography. Texas Texas A M
University. 3. VanCleave, J. (1996). Oceans for
Every Kid Easy Activities that Make Learning
Science Fun. New York John Wiley Sons, Inc.
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Marine Habitats Need Our Help!
Fast Fact More than 66 of the worlds
population lives within 100 kilometers of the
coast.
http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
1. Ahrens, C. D. (2005). Essentials of
Meteorology An Invitation to the Atmosphere (4th
ed.). California Thomson. 2. Herring, D., Weier,
J., Gubbels, T. (2002, August). Environmental
Indicators for Coastal Management. Earth
Observation Magazine, 11(8). 3. Hutchinson, S.
Hawkins, L. E. (2005). Oceans A Visual Guide.
New York Firefly Books. 4. Sustain Healthy
Coasts. (2005). NOAA Strategic Plan Executive
Summary. Retrieved July 20, 2007, from
http//www.noaa.gov/str-plan/m-coasts.html
Created by Leeanne Hazzard Fabrice Veron,
2007 Air-Sea Interaction Laboratory College of
Marine and Earth Studies University of Delaware
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How much of Earths surface is covered by
water? 71 percent of the surface of Earth is
covered by liquid water.
How much of the water on Earth is saltwater? The
salty oceans contain 97.5 percent of the liquid
water on Earth.
The Hydrologic, or Water, Cycle The ocean, the
atmosphere, and the land continuously exchange
moisture among each other by means of the water
cycle. Solar heating on the earths surface
causes water to evaporate from sea surfaces and
leaves of growing plants. During evaporation,
liquid water turns into a gas, known as water
vapor, and it then condenses to form clouds. The
water vapor then falls from the clouds as
precipitation. Most of the precipitation that
reaches the surface of Earth falls onto the land,
but some of it may directly enter back into the
ocean. On land, precipitation fills inland water
storages and replenishes rivers and streams. The
water, in addition to the sand, mud, silt,
gravel, and rocks that have been picked up along
the way, drain back into the sea surfaces. Some
of the water does not reach the sea surfaces
immediately because it either freezes in glaciers
or it evaporates directly back into the
atmosphere.
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Why does most precipitation fall onto the land? A
larger portion of Earths surface is covered by
water than by land, however, more precipitation
falls onto the land. Since weather patterns
typically form and dissipate slower over the
water than over the land, there is more
circulation occurring in the atmosphere above the
land and, therefore, more cloud formation. Once
the cloud particles get too heavy to remain
suspended in the air, they fall to the ground in
the form of precipitation. All in all, since
clouds are typically found in larger quantities
over land, most precipitation will fall onto the
land.
Did you know? As precipitation falls through the
atmosphere, it picks up dust particles. Rainfall
is natures way of cleaning the air.
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Created by Leeanne Hazzard Fabrice Veron,
2007 Air-Sea Interaction Laboratory College of
Marine and Earth Studies University of Delaware
1. Ahrens, C. D. (2005). Essentials of
Meteorology An Invitation to the Atmosphere (4th
ed.). California Thomson. 2. Groves, D. (1989).
The Oceans A Book of Questions and Answers. New
York John Wiley Sons, Inc. 3. Hutchinson, S.
Hawkins, L. E. (2005). Oceans A Visual Guide.
New York Firefly Books.
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Waves, Waves Everywhere!
Mountain Waves As wind blows over mountains,
eddies, or whirls of air, and waves can form
beyond the mountain. Eddies and mountain waves
are usually produced when the air is stable and
the wind is blowing at a speed greater than 40
knots.
Surface Waves Surface waves are found at the
surface of the ocean. These waves form when
winds blow over the oceans surface.
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Kelvin Helmholtz Waves A sudden change in wind
speed and direction is called wind shear. Wind
shear produces forces that form eddies. Downwind
of a mountain in a wind shear zone, turbulent
eddies produce Kelvin Helmholtz Waves. Billow
clouds form when Kelvin Helmboltz Waves become
visible in the air.
Internal Waves Internal waves flow beneath the
surface of the ocean due to the buoyancy force.
In other words, these waves are created by
differences in the density of ocean water at
various depths.
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Sinusoidal Wave
Compressional Wave
1. Ahrens, C. D. (2005). Essentials of
Meteorology An Invitation to the Atmosphere (4th
ed.). California Thomson. 2. Hutchinson, S.
Hawkins, L. E. (2005). Oceans A Visual Guide.
New York Firefly Books. 3. Nowacek, D. P. (2000,
Fall). Unit 2, Lesson 1 Introduction to Marine
Mammals and Acoustics. Project Oceanography.
Retrieved on July 12, 2007, from
http//www.marine.usf.edu/pjocean/packets/ 4.
Tarbuck, E. J. Lutgens, F. K. (2003). Earth
Science (10th ed.). New Jersey Pearson Education.
Created by Leeanne Hazzard Fabrice Veron,
2007 Air-Sea Interaction Laboratory College of
Marine and Earth Studies University of Delaware