Although the forecasting of surface currents has been performed by aerographers for a number of years, the prominence of such forecasting became more evident when a number of incidents involving large sea-going oil tankers occurred. Collisions and grounding involving tankers caused great amounts of pollutants, mainly oil, to be spilled on the water surface. The movement, both direction and speed, of such contaminants is directly controlled by the surface currents in the affected area. More concerned emphasis has now been placed on the ability of forecasters to predict the movement of such contaminated areas. In this section, we will discuss the general characteristics of currents, how they form, and the different types of currents.
Most units involved in surface current forecasts have their own innovations and methods.