If you are finding the terminology of this website, associated papers or lectures complex, please consult this short dictionary.
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) - A large system of ocean currents that carry warm water from the tropics northwards into the North Atlantic.
Bifurcation - The division of something into two branches or parts.
Box Model - The box model describes the continuity equation which holds varying rate components (constantly monitored) that collectively make up a system as a whole. An extension of the single box model is a two box model which serve as two systems co-existing in the same environment. The co-existing systems represent two quantities that we wish to track simultaneously to see how it affects a main system. A typical example of this model is the global climate system.
Dansgaard-Oeschger event - Any of several dramatic but fleeting global climatic swings characterized by a period of abrupt warming followed by a period of slow cooling that occurred during the last ice age
Dynamic Sea Level (DSL) - Dynamic sea level is the sea level deviation from the geoid. It is closely related to ocean current through geostrophy. In the current climate, dynamic sea level shows complex patterns. It is very low in the North Atlantic compared to the North Pacific.
EOF Analysis - The technique of Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis, usually just referred to as EOF analysis, is very common in geophysical sciences. The general aim of EOF analysis is to simplify a spatial-temporal data set by transforming it to spatial patterns of variability and temporal projections of these patterns.
Epistemological - Relating to the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion.
GCM – General Circulation Model, it employs a mathematical model of the general circulation of a planetary atmosphere or ocean
Geoid - A geoid is the irregular-shaped “ball” that scientists use to more accurately calculate depths of earthquakes, or any other deep object beneath the earth's surface.
Geostrophic - Relating to or denoting the component of a wind or current that arises from a balance between pressure gradients and coriolis forces
GIS - A geographic information system consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data.
GitHub - A platform used to store the source code for a project and track the complete history of all changes made to that code.
Heinrich Events - Episodes during which large numbers of icebergs are released by glaciers into the North Atlantic.
Hopf Bifurcation - A Hopf bifurcation is a critical point where a system's stability switches and a periodic solution arises.
Hosing - Freshwater input.
Hysteresis - The phenomenon in which the value of a physical property lags behind changes in the effect causing it, as for instance when magnetic induction lags behind the magnetizing force.
Met Office - The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service.
Model - Models are systems created to imitate parts of the real world; systems which can be understood, manipulated and examined more easily. If these systems are well designed, we can learn more about the real world by studying them.
Meridional - Meridional flow follows a pattern from north to south, or from south to north, along the Earth's longitude lines, longitudinal circles (meridian) or in the north–south direction.
National Oceaonography Centre (NOC) - A centre for research, teaching, and technology development in Ocean and Earth science based Southampton.
Ontological – Ontology is the branch of philosophy that studies concepts such as existence, being, becoming, and reality. It includes the questions of how entities are grouped into basic categories and which of these entities exist on the most fundamental level. Ontological questions are often relating to the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion.
Open-Source - Open source software is that which can be edited and distributed further without restriction. It can then gather the computing and scientific ability of a wider pool at little to no additional cost to the creator.
Python - A high-level, general-purpose and open-source programming language.
Runge-Kutta method - In numerical analysis, the Runge–Kutta methods are a family of implicit and explicit iterative methods, which include the well-known routine called the Euler Method, used in temporal discretization for the approximate solutions of ordinary differential equations.
Saddle Node Bifurcation - A type of arrangement of the trajectories in a neighbourhood of a singular point x0 of an autonomous system of second-order ordinary differential equations.
Sverdrup - In oceanography, the sverdrup (symbol: Sv) is a non-SI metric unit of flow, with 1 Sv equal to 1 million cubic metres per second (260,000,000 US gal/s); it is equivalent to the SI derived unit cubic hectometer per second (symbol: hm /s or hm ⋅s ). It is used almost exclusively in oceanography to measure the volumetric rate of transport of ocean currents. It is named after Harald Sverdrup.
Synoptic Chart - A synoptic chart is any map that summarises atmospheric conditions (temperature , precipitation , wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure and cloud coverage) over a wide area at a given time.