Abstract:
We deployed satellite-tracked near surface drifters during the annual austral summer Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program January cruises during 2005-2007 in order to investigate the near-surface Lagrangian currents over the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) shelf between 63 and 68 S. The LTER investigators have focused their studies in this region since 1990, and have collected much valuable hydrographic and biological data on this ecosystem, but to date there have been very few direct measurements of currents. Satellite-tracked drifters provide a simple yet powerful tool to track the motion of near-surface water on time scales ranging from the tidal/inertial band to monthly and longer.
