WOCE Heavy Weather Drifter Tests

世界海洋环流实验(WOCE)将需要在长时间和不同海洋条件下测量海洋表面流。已经开发了几种低成本的漂移器，并在热带地区相继部署，在那里人们很好地了解了它们的随水特性。然而，它们还没有在风和天气条件更恶劣的高纬度地区使用或测试。四个漂浮物将被改装成不同的阻力面积比，并配备海流计。它们将于1989年底在北太平洋现有的气象浮标附近部署两个星期。恢复后，流经漂流物的水流数据将作为风速和阻力面积的函数进行分析。另外16名相同的流浪者将在1989年10月被部署，每隔三个月就会在恶劣的冬季天气中恢复一批人，以评估他们的磨损和生存能力。水团跟踪数据，当与现有热带校准研究的数据一起使用时，将提供对漂流者在WOCE现场计划中预计的风和洋流变量范围内的表现的评估。生存能力和磨损观察将使机械部件的设计得到改进，以承受长期暴露在中高纬度的上层海洋环境中。在WOCE现场项目期间，将建造和部署大量漂流船。这项研究对于选择有效的漂流者是必不可少的。这是斯克里普斯海洋研究所和加拿大海洋科学研究所的一个联合项目。

The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) will require measurements of ocean surface currents over long periods of time and in different ocean conditions. Several low cost drifters have been developed and successively deployed in the tropics where their water following characteristics are well understood. However they have not yet been used or tested in high latitudes where wind and weather conditions are more severe. Four drifters will be modified to have different drag area ratios and outfitted with current meters. They will be deployed for two-week periods in late 1989 near existing weather buoys in the North Pacific. After recovery, data from the flow of water past the drifters will be analyzed as a function of wind speed and drag area. Sixteen other identical drifters will be deployed in October 1989 and groups will be recovered in three-month intervals through rough winter weather to assess wear and survivability. The data on water-mass tracking, when taken with data from existing tropical calibration studies will provide an assessment of the drifters' performance across the range of wind and current variables anticipated in WOCE field programs. The survivability and wear observations will allow improvements in design of mechanical components to withstand prolonged exposure to upper ocean environments in the mid- and high latitudes. A large number of drifters will be built and deployed during WOCE field programs. This study is essential to the selection of effective drifters. It is a joint project between the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Canada.