Patent ID: 7283908

Claim:
A computerized method for estimating ocean current and ocean surface height deviation from a reference water level for at least one user selected location within a geographic grid, the method comprising: receiving the user selected location, receiving water depth data from a global bathymetry database; determining whether the user selected location is a land location or a water covered location by referring to the water depth data; if the user selected location is a water-covered location, estimating the ocean current and the ocean surface height deviation for the user selected location using a computerized ocean model; and if the user selected location is a land location, finding a closest grid point that is water covered, and estimating the ocean current and the ocean surface height deviation for the closest grid point using a computerized ocean model; and at least one of: displaying the ocean current and the ocean surface height deviation to a user, transferring the ocean current and the ocean surface height deviation to another computer, and storing the ocean current and the ocean surface height deviation for further retrieval.