This is a photograph of Vagn Ekman, Swedish oceanographer, 1874-1954. Click on image for full size (82 Kb) Image is in Public Domain

Ekman’s work showed that the deflection of the icebergs can be explained by something that came to be known as the Ekman spiral. This refers to a spiral-shaped column of currents that begins with a force exerted over a horizontal boundary (as wind pushes on the horizontal boundary of sea water in the ocean). The wind’s force is deflected by the Coriolis effect, and the net direction of the force is shifted to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. This net force pushes on the water layer below it, just as the wind originally pushed on it, and the Coriolis effect deflects this force as well, so its net direction is deflected even further from the original wind’s direction. This continues through additional layers of water, and at each step the new force direction is shifted a little more, so there is an overall spiral-like structure to the column of currents.

Ekman’s theory of how wind causes movement of water near the ocean surface, and how the movement of one water layer affects adjacent layers, has been expanded by many oceanographers in the past century, and the overall process of wind causing the movement of water near the surface of the ocean has come to be called Ekman transport (and the layer of water it occurs in, roughly the upper 100 meters of the ocean, is commonly called the Ekman layer). When Ekman transport occurs near a coast, it can create an upwelling of nutrient-rich water from the deeper layers of the ocean, and this creates a region that is biologically productive.

Ekman made other key contributions to oceanography, including a study of how the fresh water from melting icebergs could slow or stop ships (this is a phenomenon called ‘dead water’). He also invented several important devices for studying the sea, such as the Ekman water bottle, which allows researchers to sample sea water temperature at different depths, and some of his inventions are still in use today.

Ekman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on May 3, 1874. He passed away on March 9, 1954.

This is a photograph of Vagn Ekman, Swedish oceanographer, 1874-1954. Click on image for full size (82 Kb) Image is in Public Domain

Ekman’s theory of how wind causes movement of water near the ocean surface, and how the movement of one water layer affects lower layers, has been expanded by many oceanographers in the past century. So the overall process of wind causing the movement of water near the surface of the ocean has come to be called Ekman transport. When Ekman transport occurs near a coast, it can create an upwelling of nutrient-rich water from the deeper layers of the ocean, and this creates a region that is very good for ocean life.

Ekman made other key contributions to oceanography, including a study of how the fresh water from melting icebergs could slow or stop ships (this is called ‘dead water’). He also invented several important instruments and some of his inventions are still in use today.

Besides his great interest in oceans, Ekman was very interested in music. He was known to be a very good singer, pianist and even composer!

He passed away on March 9, 1954.

This is a photograph of Vagn Ekman, Swedish oceanographer, 1874-1954. Click on image for full size (82 Kb) Image is in Public Domain

Ekman is best known for studying how the Coriolis force affects ocean currents. Ekman has several important oceanography ideas named after him including the Ekman spiral, Ekman layer and Ekman transport.

He also invented several important instruments and some of his inventions are still in use today.

Did you know scientists have other interests besides science? Ekman was very interested in music. He was known to be a very good singer and piano player.

He passed away on March 9, 1954.