A State-of-the-Art Compact Surface Drifter Reveals Pathways of Floating Marine Litter in the German Bight
Lagrangian observations are important for the understanding of complex transport patterns of floating macroscopic litter items at the ocean surface. Satellite-tracked drifters and numerical models are an important source of information relevant to transport processes as well as distribution patterns...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00058/full |
| _version_ | 1818537454786838528 |
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| author | Jens Meyerjürgens Thomas H. Badewien Shungudzemwoyo P. Garaba Jörg-Olaf Wolff Oliver Zielinski |
| author_facet | Jens Meyerjürgens Thomas H. Badewien Shungudzemwoyo P. Garaba Jörg-Olaf Wolff Oliver Zielinski |
| author_sort | Jens Meyerjürgens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lagrangian observations are important for the understanding of complex transport patterns of floating macroscopic litter items at the ocean surface. Satellite-tracked drifters and numerical models are an important source of information relevant to transport processes as well as distribution patterns of floating marine litter (FML) on a regional to global scale. Sub-mesoscale processes in coastal and estuarine systems have an enormous impact on pathways and accumulation zones of FML and are yet to be fully understood. Here we present a state-of-the-art, low-cost and robust design of a satellite-tracked drifter applicable in studying complex pathways and sub-mesoscale dynamics of floating litter in tidally influenced coastal and estuarine systems. It is compact, lightweight <5 kg, capable of refloating, easily recovered and modified. The drifter motion resolves currents of the ocean surface layer (top 0.5 m layer) taking into account wind induced motions. We further showcase findings from seven of our custom-made drifters deployed from RV Heincke and RV Senckenberg in the German Bight during spring and autumn 2017. Drifter velocities were computed from high resolved drifter position data and compared to local wind field observations. It was noted that the net transport of the drifters in areas far away from the coast was dominated by wind-driven surface currents, 1% of the wind speed, whereas the transport pattern in coastal areas was mainly overshadowed by local small-scale processes like tidal jet currents, interactions with a complex shoreline and fronts generated by riverine freshwater plumes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:50:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d358734eddf44301ae4cd05870fd4292 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:50:57Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-d358734eddf44301ae4cd05870fd42922022-12-22T00:54:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452019-02-01610.3389/fmars.2019.00058436473A State-of-the-Art Compact Surface Drifter Reveals Pathways of Floating Marine Litter in the German BightJens MeyerjürgensThomas H. BadewienShungudzemwoyo P. GarabaJörg-Olaf WolffOliver ZielinskiLagrangian observations are important for the understanding of complex transport patterns of floating macroscopic litter items at the ocean surface. Satellite-tracked drifters and numerical models are an important source of information relevant to transport processes as well as distribution patterns of floating marine litter (FML) on a regional to global scale. Sub-mesoscale processes in coastal and estuarine systems have an enormous impact on pathways and accumulation zones of FML and are yet to be fully understood. Here we present a state-of-the-art, low-cost and robust design of a satellite-tracked drifter applicable in studying complex pathways and sub-mesoscale dynamics of floating litter in tidally influenced coastal and estuarine systems. It is compact, lightweight <5 kg, capable of refloating, easily recovered and modified. The drifter motion resolves currents of the ocean surface layer (top 0.5 m layer) taking into account wind induced motions. We further showcase findings from seven of our custom-made drifters deployed from RV Heincke and RV Senckenberg in the German Bight during spring and autumn 2017. Drifter velocities were computed from high resolved drifter position data and compared to local wind field observations. It was noted that the net transport of the drifters in areas far away from the coast was dominated by wind-driven surface currents, 1% of the wind speed, whereas the transport pattern in coastal areas was mainly overshadowed by local small-scale processes like tidal jet currents, interactions with a complex shoreline and fronts generated by riverine freshwater plumes.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00058/fullsurface drifter designcoastal transport patternsurface velocity fieldfloating marine litterGerman Bight |
| spellingShingle | Jens Meyerjürgens Thomas H. Badewien Shungudzemwoyo P. Garaba Jörg-Olaf Wolff Oliver Zielinski A State-of-the-Art Compact Surface Drifter Reveals Pathways of Floating Marine Litter in the German Bight Frontiers in Marine Science surface drifter design coastal transport pattern surface velocity field floating marine litter German Bight |
| title | A State-of-the-Art Compact Surface Drifter Reveals Pathways of Floating Marine Litter in the German Bight |
| title_full | A State-of-the-Art Compact Surface Drifter Reveals Pathways of Floating Marine Litter in the German Bight |
| title_fullStr | A State-of-the-Art Compact Surface Drifter Reveals Pathways of Floating Marine Litter in the German Bight |
| title_full_unstemmed | A State-of-the-Art Compact Surface Drifter Reveals Pathways of Floating Marine Litter in the German Bight |
| title_short | A State-of-the-Art Compact Surface Drifter Reveals Pathways of Floating Marine Litter in the German Bight |
| title_sort | state of the art compact surface drifter reveals pathways of floating marine litter in the german bight |
| topic | surface drifter design coastal transport pattern surface velocity field floating marine litter German Bight |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00058/full |
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