Spring 2027

Introduction to Physical Oceanography

Introduction to Physical Oceanography covering physical properties of seawater, ocean climatology, budgets, circulation, and water masses of the world ocean.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 4

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.71 GPA, 71.4% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.67 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=12 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.88 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=8 letter grades).

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe the physical properties of seawater and the circulation of the global ocean.

  • Apply key oceanographic theories via derivation and calculation.

  • Analyze real-world oceanographic observation-based and climate model output.

  • Evaluate course material as presented in classic and recent oceanographic literature.

  • Share skills and techniques in analysis and interpretation with classmates.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

ATM OCN 311 or graduate/professional standing

ATMOCN 660

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

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Student experience

the class

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.71 GPA, 71.4% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.67 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=12 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.88 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=8 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Physical properties of seawater
  • Ocean climatology
  • Water, salt, and heat budgets
  • Ocean circulation and water masses
  • Thermocline, thermohaline, equatorial, and southern oceans

Skills

  • Describing physical properties of seawater and global ocean circulation
  • Applying oceanographic theories through derivation and calculation
  • Analyzing real-world oceanographic observations and climate model output
  • Evaluating classic and recent oceanographic literature

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

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Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "1592eb7639fe6e4c7741cfb67be35eb137bffa7742208b62ec8891a0398f997f",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}