A New Small Drifter for Shallow Water Basins: Application to the Study of Surface Currents in the Muggia Bay (Italy)

摘要

A new small drifter prototype for measuring current immediately below the free surface in a water basin is proposed in this paper.udThedrifter dimensionsmake it useful for shallow water applications.The drifter transmits itsGPS location viaGSMphone network.udThe drifter was used to study the trajectory of the surface current in the Muggia bay, the latter containing the industrial harbor ofudthe city of Trieste (Italy).The analysis has been carried out under a wide variety of wind conditions. As regards the behavior of theuddrifter, the analysis has shown that it is well suited to detect the water current since its motion is marginally affected by the wind.udThe study has allowed detecting the main features of the surface circulation within the Muggia bay under different meteorologicaludconditions. Also, the study has shown that the trajectory of the surface current within the bay is weakly affected by the Coriolisudforce.