Perspective in Three-Dimensional Modelling of the Marine System

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the three-dimensional modeling of the marine system. The marine system is extremely complex, and it is an overwhelming task to predict the environmental effects of man's activities and, a fortiori , to set limits to such activities. The first step in modeling a marine system is the demarcation of the system. This includes the definition of its support—that is, its extension in physical space—and of its scope—that is, its deployment in state space. The first characteristic of a model is its object—that is, the geographical area, the dates and the specific events or processes—to be investigated. The second characteristic of a model is its span—that is, its dimension in physical space and instate space. The state space can be divided in several sectors corresponding to hydrodynamical, chemical, biological processes, and separate hydrodynamical, chemical, and biological models can be conceived with the necessary input–output links between them. The chapter also discusses marine weather equations.