A NOTE ON THE EFFECT OF DISPERSION ON MEAN CURRENT MEASUREMENTS.
Abstract
The difficulty with drift type current measuring devices is that they move in a random way with respect to the mean current. Thus, when a small number of current followers are used, the values of mean current derived from the observations do not necessarily represent the true values which could be approximated more clearly by a large number of drift devices. In light of the present knowledge of oceanic diffusion, statistical errors associated with current measurement of this type may be estimated. These errors are generally of the order of 1 cm/sec, but may, in some cases, be as large as 10 cm/sec. The statistical problem can be solved partially by the use of tracers; dye tracers have proved to be quite useful in measuring the mean current as well as in studying diffusion. One must, however, be careful not to interpret the movement of dye patches simply as indicative of the mean current. A knowledge of turbulent diffusion is also needed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0691242
Entities
People
- Akira Okubo
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University