Quantifying dispersion in an estuary: A Lagrangian drifter approach

Spencer, D., Lemckert, C.J., Yu, Y., Gustafson, J., Lee, S.Y., Zhang, H., 2014. Quantifying Dispersion in an Estuary: A Lagrangian Drifter Approach. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 029–034, ISSN 0749-0208. Describing the physical drivers of water bodies plays an integral role in the marine environment. Lagrangian drifters are used to describe hydrodynamics, where tracking groups (clusters) of drifting floats is performed to determine the dispersion behaviour in the water. Using two types of Lagrangian drifters released in Moreton Bay, Australia, the dispersion behaviour is determined over the duration of a semi-diurnal spring tide cycle. A Self-Locating Datum Marker Buoy (SLDMB) was designed as the first drifter type. The second drifter (Small Drifter) was designed to be approximately half the size of the SLDMB. SLDMB and Small Drifter clusters were deployed f...