The use of mini-drifters in coastal current measurements conducted concurrently with satellite imaging.

Abstract

The results of field measurements of coastal currents using Lagrangian mini-drifters are presented. Drifter experiments were conducted concurrently with satellite imaging using Sentinel-2 MSI, Landsat-8 OLI and Sentinel-3 OLCI sensors. It is shown that the use of an inexpensive and simple to manufacture device, which is a mini-drifter, allows obtaining operational information about the parameters of coastal currents. In the experiments of April-May, 2019, in the northeastern part of the Black Sea, it was possible to estimate the velocity of coastal currents and determine the minimum distance that Black Sea Rim Current approached the coast. The trajectories of mini-drifters revealed the manifestations of inertial oscillations whose spatial characteristics are almost impossible to measure in any other way. The influence of the vortex structures detected in visible satellite images on the distribution of mini-drifters was estimated.

Comparison of In Situ and Remote-Sensing Methods to Determine Turbidity and Concentration of Suspended Matter in the Estuary Zone of the Mzymta River, Black Sea

“…The spreading of the plume in the western direction was caused by two factors: (1) during our work, the Rim Current jet, which is directed westward at this location, was pressed to the coast and had a high velocity of more than 0.6 m/s [63]; (2) in the eastern part the river mouth, blocks of concrete were laid to limit the spread of water in the eastern direction and to reduce the load on the structures enclosing the port facility.…”

“…Due to a narrow shelf zone in the southeastern Black Sea, the main element of the Black Sea circulation, the Rim Current, is often strongly pressed against the coast, at a distance of ~6 km. Therefore, being involved in the cyclonic structure of the Rim Current, Mzymta plume can spread for many kilometers along the coastline from the river mouth [63]. Interacting with sub-mesoscale and mesoscale vortex structures, the river water acts as a tracer, which aids in the studies of water exchange between the coastal zone and deep sea [64].…”