Process / pipelineObservational Oceanography
Drifter Lagrangian Analysis
Drifter Lagrangian analysis tracks the motion of water parcels using surface drifters (buoys with attached drogues) to measure ocean currents directly. Developed by Robert Davis in the 1980s, this method provides direct observation of water parcel trajectories and enables estimation of eddy diffusivity, transport pathways, and mixing. Drifter data complement Eulerian (fixed-point) observations by capturing the Lagrangian perspective of fluid motion.
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Sources
- Davis, R. E. (1985). Drifter observations of coastal surface currents during CODE: The method and descriptive view. Journal of Geophysical Research, 90(C3), 4741-4755. DOI: 10.1029/JC090iC03p04741 ↗
- Lumpkin, R., & Pazos, M. (2007). Measuring surface currents with Surface Velocity Program drifters: the instrument, its data, and its applications. In A. Griffa, A. D. Kirwan, A. J. Mariano, T. M. Ozgokmen, & H. T. Rossby (Eds.), Lagrangian Analysis and Prediction of Coastal and Ocean Dynamics (pp. 39-67). Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511535901.003 ↗