A new tow-yo instrument to observe high-resolution coastal phenomena

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Field observations in coastal and estuarine regions are important for studying physical and biological features. Recent studies have presented fine-scale physical features from numerical models and acoustic surveys. However, high spatial resolution data of physical structures are difficult to obtain, since the conventional CTD survey requires a stop-and-measure ship operation. To solve this issue, we have developed a new, portable tow-yo instrument, Yoing Ocean Data Acquisition Profiler (YODA Profiler), that continuously observes many vertical profiles of the fine-scale features in coastal regions. Using the YODA Profiler, we were able to rapidly obtain high-resolution data in a shallow estuary. The results showed fine-scale complicated internal wave features, upslope propagating fronts and a patchy distribution of phytoplankton. These observations are consistent with recent numerical models and acoustic surveys, as well as with the critical angle theory for internal wave reflections along a bottom slope. We have also developed a statistical technique to estimate the rate of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation, ε, from the variance of dC/dz data. Using this technique we were able to estimate the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate associated with river outflow and internal waves in the river mouth.