Because of its centrallocation in the Old World, the Adriatic Sea has long been explored and studied. Modern methods of investigation, however, have accelerated the pace of study during the last decade. These are the ADCP currentmeter, satellite imagery, drifter technology, and, last but not least, the computer with its arsenal of tools for data analysis and model simulations. As a result of this renaissance, the Adriatic Sea and its sub-basins are currently the object of intensified scrutiny by a number of scientific teams, in Europe and be yond. Questions concerning the mesoscale variability that dominates regional motions, the seasonal circulation of the sea, and its long-term climatic role in the broader Mediterranean, have become topics of lively discussions. The time was ripe then when an international workshop dedicated to the physical oceanography of the Adriatic Sea was convened in Trieste on 21-25 September 1998. Its objectives were to assess the current knowledge of the oceanography of the Adriatic Sea, to review the newly acquired observations, to create syn ergy between model simulations and observations, and to identify directions for future Adriatic oceanography. This book, however,is not the mere proceedings of the workshop. It was written as a monograph synthetizing the current knowledge of the physical oceanography of the Adriatic Sea, with the hope that it will serve as a reference to anyone interested in the Adriatic. The book also identifies topics in need of additional inquiry and proposes research directions for the next decade.

This monograph is the first book on the oceanography of the Adriatic Sea. It is a synthesis between the physical oceanography of the Adriatic Sea, its water masses, overall circulation and regional dynamics as well as its connection to the rest of the Mediterranean Sea. Topical coverage ranges from historical surveys to contemporary methods of investigation and simulation. A final chapter identifies topics in need of further inquiry. This reference book should be an aid to all scientists and policy makers with an interest in the Adriatic Sea.

The Baltic Sea oceanographic research community is wide and the research history is over 100 years old. Nevertheless, there is still no single, coherent book on the physical oceanography of the Baltic Sea as a whole. There is a strong need for such a book, coming from working oceanographers as well as the university teaching programmes in advanced undergraduate to graduate levels. In the regional conference series in physical oceanography (Baltic Sea Science Conference, Baltic Sea Oceanographers' conference, Baltex-conferences) about 500 scientists take part regularly. Even more scientists work in the fields of marine biology, chemistry and the environment, and they need information on the physics of the Baltic Sea as well. There are nine countries bordering on the Baltic Sea and five more in the runoff area. The Baltic Sea as a source of fish, means of transportation and leisure activities is highly important to the regional society. In the runoff area there are a total of 85 million people. Research and protection strategies need to be developed, as the Baltic Sea is probably the most polluted sea in the world. Since the Baltic Sea has become an inner sea of the EU (apart from small shore parts of Russia in Petersburg and Kaliningrad), it is anticipated that the importance of the region will consequently rise. The book will arouse interest among students, scientists and decision makers involved with the Baltic problems. It will also give important background information for those working with biogeochemical processes in the Baltic Sea, because the physical forcing for those processes is of vital importance.

The northern Adriatic Sea is transient, most recently flooded between 18,000 to 6,000 years ago following the last glacial maximum, and it will drain again with the onset of the next glacial period. Despite its youth, uniformly shallow depth, and flat sediment floor, it hosts a broad range of bottom-dwelling sea life ecologically resembling communities that have existed in the shallow sea since the Ordovician Period, some 500 million years ago. The northern Adriatic is a natural laboratory in which to test hypotheses concerning the shift from the Paleozoic prevalence of stationary suspension-feeders living on the surface of the sediment and feeding from the overlying waters to, more recently, bottom-dwelling animals living dominantly in or actively seeking temporary refuge within the sediments of the sea floor, regardless of where they feed. Across the northern Adriatic Sea there is an ecological gradient from Paleozoic-style surface-dwelling communities in the east to "modern" communities living almost exclusively within the sediments in the west. Therefore, within the relatively small area of the northern Adriatic, there is an existing gradient similar to the profound ecological change from Paleozoic to more modern marine life. During the early twentieth century, life at the bottom of the Adriatic was systematically sampled from the east to the west coasts, revealing the most common animals and their distribution. In this book Frank K. McKinney combines these findings with more recent, local studies to understand better the ecological structure of the Adriatic's floor. Specifically, he uses the predation, sediment textures and deposition rates, currents, and nutrients of northern Adriatic bottom communities to evaluate hypotheses concerning the conditions that drove surface-dwelling animals to seek long-term refuge within sea floor sediment. Though the northern Adriatic has been well studied since the advent of the marine sciences, it is not widely known by paleontologists. With this volume, McKinney illuminates what this "living laboratory" can tell us about the evolution of multicellular life on Earth.

Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography is a practical referenceguide to established and modern data analysis techniques in earth and oceansciences. This second and revised edition is even more comprehensive with numerous updates, and an additional appendix on 'Convolution and Fourier transforms'. Intended for both students and established scientists, the fivemajor chapters of the book cover data acquisition and recording, dataprocessing and presentation, statistical methods and error handling,analysis of spatial data fields, and time series analysis methods. Chapter 5on time series analysis is a book in itself, spanning a wide diversity oftopics from stochastic processes and stationarity, coherence functions,Fourier analysis, tidal harmonic analysis, spectral and cross-spectralanalysis, wavelet and other related methods for processing nonstationarydata series, digital filters, and fractals. The seven appendices includeunit conversions, approximation methods and nondimensional numbers used ingeophysical fluid dynamics, presentations on convolution, statisticalterminology, and distribution functions, and a number of importantstatistical tables. Twenty pages are devoted to references. Featuring:• An in-depth presentation of modern techniques for the analysis of temporal and spatial data sets collected in oceanography, geophysics, and other disciplines in earth and ocean sciences.• A detailed overview of oceanographic instrumentation and sensors - old and new - used to collect oceanographic data.• 7 appendices especially applicable to earth and ocean sciences ranging from conversion of units, through statistical tables, to terminology and non-dimensional parameters. In praise of the first edition: "(...)This is a very practical guide to the various statistical analysis methods used for obtaining information from geophysical data, with particular reference to oceanography(...)The book provides both a text for advanced students of the geophysical sciences and a useful reference volume for researchers." Aslib Book Guide Vol 63, No. 9, 1998 "(...)This is an excellent book that I recommend highly and will definitely use for my own research and teaching." EOS Transactions, D.A. Jay, 1999 "(...)In summary, this book is the most comprehensive and practical source of information on data analysis methods available to the physical oceanographer. The reader gets the benefit of extremely broad coverage and an excellent set of examples drawn from geographical observations." Oceanography, Vol. 12, No. 3, A. Plueddemann, 1999 "(...)Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography is highly recommended for a wide range of readers, from the relative novice to the experienced researcher. It would be appropriate for academic and special libraries." E-Streams, Vol. 2, No. 8, P. Mofjelf, August 1999

This book focuses on the Adriatic Sea and includes articles on the hydrographic and geographic objects, hydrological features and biological resources, the administrative-territorial units of the Adriatic countries, economy, culture and history, cities, ports, international agreements, research institutions and the activities of outstanding scientists, researchers, and travelers.

The series is an essential reference text for research workers and students in all fields of marine science and related subjects. An ever increasing interest in oceanography and environmental issues makes it especially relevant.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Water Optics and Water Colour Remote Sensing" that was published in Remote Sensing

This is the first of two volumes that together provide an integrated picture of the Montenegrin Adriatic coast, presenting the natural components of the system as well as the chemical composition and chemical processes in the extended area. This book describes the biology and ecology of the high seas of the Montenegrin coast, with a special focus on their biodiversity, flora and fauna, fisheries, mariculture, marine reptiles and mammals. The data has been collected through national and international projects over the last few decades and provides the reader with models and recommendations for the protection of this vital region of the Adriatic coast, as well as scientific recommendations for the sustainable use of its biological resources. Given the breadth and depth of its coverage, the book offers an invaluable source of information for researchers, students and environmental managers alike.

" ... as soon as one has traversed the greater part of the wild sea, one comes upon such a huge quantity of ice that nowhere in the whole world has the like been known." "This ice is of a wonderful nature. It lies at times quite still, as one would expect, with openings or large fjords in it; but sometimes its movement is so strong and rapid as to equal that of a ship running before the wind, and it drifts against the wind as often as with it." Kongespeilet - 1250 A.D. ("The Mirror of Kings") Modern societies require increasing amounts influence on the water mass and on the resulting of scientific information about the environment total environment of the region; therefore, cer tain of its characteristics will necessarily be in whieh they live and work. For the seas this information must describe the air above the sea, included.