Quantifying cold front induced water transport of a bay with <i>in situ</i> observations using manned and unmanned boats

WEEKS Eddie; ROBINSON Mark E; LI Chunyan

doi:10.1007/s13131-018-1330-1

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Article Navigation > Acta Oceanologica Sinica > 2018 > 37(11): 1-7

WEEKS Eddie, ROBINSON Mark E, LI Chunyan. Quantifying cold front induced water transport of a bay with in situ observations using manned and unmanned boats[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2018, 37(11): 1-7. doi: 10.1007/s13131-018-1330-1

Citation:

WEEKS Eddie, ROBINSON Mark E, LI Chunyan. Quantifying cold front induced water transport of a bay with in situ observations using manned and unmanned boats[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2018, 37(11): 1-7. doi: 10.1007/s13131-018-1330-1

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Quantifying cold front induced water transport of a bay with in situ observations using manned and unmanned boats

doi: 10.1007/s13131-018-1330-1

1.
Coastal Studies Institute, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA 70803, USA
2.
Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA 70803, USA

Received Date: 2018-01-09

Abstract

Abstract

The generation of high-resolution data is increasingly important in understanding the complexities of coastal ocean and developing sound management strategies, especially in view of the long-term impact of severe weather systems. The impact of severe weather systems, when integrated over time, can be significant when compared with tidal oscillations. This paper presents a study of water transport out of Vermilion Bay in response to a short, intense event associated with a passing atmospheric cold front, and reports the application of an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) mounted on an Automated Surface Craft (ASC), known as the auto-boat or unmanned boat, developed in our lab at the Louisiana State University, to generate high resolution data accurately at a fraction of the cost of a manned boat. In our study, we used a manned boat and an unmanned boat, each for over 24 h to cover an entire diurnal tidal cycle, to measure flow velocity profiles to calculate the total transport. A stationary ADCP was deployed in the Southwest Pass of the Vermilion Bay from May 2009 to April 2012, providing data almost continuously (with only one major gap), with a 717-day record of water transport between the northern Gulf of Mexico and Vermilion Bay, and demonstrates the importance of the pass in water transport.
- cold fronts,
- unmanned boat,
- Vermillion Bay,
- Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler,
- surveys,
- regression on transport

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References(38)

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