WOCE Heavy Weather Drifter Tests

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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.