Gas bubbles as oceanographic tracers

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

1-1-2010

Abstract

Air bubbles can be used as oceanographic tracers that indicate the strength of a downwelling current by which they are subducted. In a tidal front in the Fraser Estuary, British Columbia, Canada, vertical currents of up to 0.70 m s-1 subduct bubbles to depths of more than 160 m. Echo sounder measurements are compared with simultaneous ADCP current measurements and are interpreted with a bubble model by S. A. Thorpe, yielding an estimate of the vertical current that carries the bubbles to the depth of measurement. © 2010 American Meteorological Society.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology

Volume

27

Issue

1

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