Open AccessA GPS-Tracked Surf Zone Drifter*
Author(s) -
W. E. Schmidt,
Brian Woodward,
K. S. Millikan,
R. T. Guza,
Britt Raubenheimer,
Steve Elgar
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of atmospheric and oceanic technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.774
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1520-0426
pISSN - 0739-0572
DOI - 10.1175/1460.1
Subject(s) - drifter , surf zone , global positioning system , geodesy , geology , rip current , current (fluid) , shore , remote sensing , meteorology , oceanography , geography , lagrangian , computer science , telecommunications , physics , mathematical physics
A drifter designed to measure surf zone circulation has been developed and field tested. Drifter positions accurate to within a few meters are estimated in real time at 0.1 Hz using the global positioning system (GPS) and a shore-to-drifter radio link. More accurate positions are estimated at 1 Hz from postprocessed, internally logged data. Mean alongshore currents estimated from trajectories of the 0.5-m-draft drifters in 1–2-m water depth agree well with measurements obtained with nearby, bottom-mounted, acoustic current meters. Drifters deployed near the base of a well-developed rip current often followed eddylike paths within the surf zone before being transported seaward.