Abstract
This chapter focuses on methods and instrumentation for measuring the large-scale circulation and water properties of the ocean. Traditional deep oceanographic profiles are made from research ships to study the very largest spatial and temporal scales of the ocean circulation and property distributions. These remain the only way to measure the deep ocean with high accuracy, and the only way to make most chemical measurements. A deep oceanographic station can take up to three hours and a cross-section across an ocean can take up to two months, posing limitations to interpretation. The individual, widely separated profiles cannot be used to study tides, internal waves, or eddies, for instance, but these and other smaller scale motions affect the individual station measurements. There are, however, useful ways to process and analyze the data so that they can be used to study the large space and timescales of interest. Satellite altimeters measure the ocean's surface height, passing over each point on the ocean's surface every week or two. The chapter discusses some of the sampling issues for physical oceanography. Platforms for observations are described, and instruments for in situ observations (within the water column) are reviewed. The chapter also provides an overview of satellite remote sensing, and oceanographic archives.
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