A note on near-surface VACM measurements made from three different kinds of surface moorings.

Zenk, Walter, Halpern, D. and Käse, Rolf H. (1980) A note on near-surface VACM measurements made from three different kinds of surface moorings. Deep Sea Research Part A: Oceanographic Research Papers, 26A (Suppl. 1). pp. 217-224.

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Abstract

During a multi-institutional air-sea interaction experiment (GATE) in the central Atlantic North Equatorial Countercurrent in September 1974, vector-averaging current meter (VACM) measurements were made within the 30-m thick mixed layer from three different types of surface moorings. The moorings consisted of a single-point taut-line flexible mooring (E3), a spar-buoy (El), and a 2-legged mooring (Fl). Although the kinetic energy density spectral estimates of the E3, El, and Fl records in the low frequency range were equivalent with 95% confidence, the mean progressive vector diagrams differed by 6 % in length and 4 in direction. At frequencies above 1 cph the variances of the 7.2 m Fl current vectors were about 1.5 times larger than the 7.6 m E3 data and the spectral levels of the 20 m El and 21.4 m E3 record were equivalent, suggesting that VACM current vectors recorded near the surface beneath a surface-following buoy do not contain detectable amounts of aliased high-frequency mooring motion.

Document Type: Article
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB1 Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics > FB1-TM Theory and Modeling
OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB1 Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics > FB1-PO Physical Oceanography
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: No
Publisher: Pergamon Press
Projects: GATE
Date Deposited: 17 Mar 2016 08:05
Last Modified: 04 Aug 2020 13:08
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31856

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