Drifter (floating device)
Encyclopedia
Drifters are floating devices to investigate ocean current
s. The major components of drifters are hollow bodies that ensure flotation, "sails" to catch water currents, instruments (e.g., data collecting instruments, transmitters to transmit the collected data, and GPS devices), and waterproof containers for instruments. Drifters are a hi-tech evolution of the ocean current analysis by means of drift bottles, which in their turn evolved from simple collection of data about messages in a bottle.
Drifters provide real-time information
about ocean circulation which aids scientists in climate modeling. They may also collect information about marine life
, such as distribution of plankton
.
Ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...
s. The major components of drifters are hollow bodies that ensure flotation, "sails" to catch water currents, instruments (e.g., data collecting instruments, transmitters to transmit the collected data, and GPS devices), and waterproof containers for instruments. Drifters are a hi-tech evolution of the ocean current analysis by means of drift bottles, which in their turn evolved from simple collection of data about messages in a bottle.
Drifters provide real-time information
Real-time data
Real-time data denotes information that is delivered immediately after collection. There is no delay in the timeliness of the information provided. Real-time data is often used for navigation or tracking....
about ocean circulation which aids scientists in climate modeling. They may also collect information about marine life
Marine biology
Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
, such as distribution of plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
.
See also
- Ice raftingIce raftingIce rafting is the transport of various material by ice. Various objects deposited on ice may eventually become embedded in the ice. When the ice melts after a certain amount of drifting, these objects are deposited onto the bottom of the water body, e.g., onto a river bed or an ocean floor. These...
, another means to investigate ocean circulation - Swallow float
- Pearn P. NiilerPearn P. NiilerPearn P. Niiler - American oceanographer.In 1948 his parents brought him to western Pennsylvania. He studied engineering in college in Lehigh University. In 1964 he received doctorate from Brown University where he studied applied mathematics and fluid mechanics...
- responsible for many developments in drifter technology and establishment of the Global Drifter Program - Friendly FloateesFriendly FloateesFriendly Floatees are plastic bath toys marketed by The First Years, Inc. and made famous by the work of Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer who models ocean currents on the basis of flotsam movements including those of a consignment of Friendly Floatees washed into the Pacific Ocean in...