Observations of Concurrent Drifting Buoy and Current Meter Measurements in Lake Michigan

Abstract

Data generated by satellite-tracked drifting buoys released in the Great Lakes are being used to study lake circulation and test trajectory prediction models. Before data from drifters can be used with confidence, the water-tracking accuracy of the drifters must be known. During the winter of 1983, drogued drifters were released in Lake Michigan in the vicinity of an array of vector-averaging current meters. Several times during the next 3 months, the drifters moved within a few kilometers of one of the current meters and remained in the vicinity for up to 30 hours. The average wind effect that best aligns the currents measured by the moored current meters and the currents from drifter paths is 0.76% of the wind speed. This value is the weighted average of the wind effects calculated for seven separate cases, which ranged from 0.06% to 2.09% of the wind speed. The average value is in good agreement with theoretical estimates and field test results. The horizontal coherence of the currents within 5 km was fairly high as revealed by comparisons between drifter trajectories and current meter progressive vectors. The separation distance between the vectors was generally under 1 km while drifter path length ranged from 4 to 9 km. Results indicate that during these encounters, about 25% of the variability between current trajectories estimated by drifting buoys and current meter measurements is explained by a simple wind correction. The remaining discrepancy is attributed to wave action (Stokes drift) and data limitations such as a lack of overtake wind conditions.