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Measurements of the velocity field in the Fraser River plume

University of British Columbia

A program of Lagrangian velocity measurements was carried out in the Fraser River plume, at the mouth of the main (south) arm of that river. The data were collected over three days of equatorial tides and three days of tropic tides during the early part of freshet (May 28-31 and June 4-6, 1974). Mini-Fix positioning was used to hand-record positions of the drogues. The data were keypunched and checked for errors, and smoothed positions and velocities were interpolated between the observed points. The experimental data give a more detailed description of the spatial and temporal variations of flow in the plume than was previously available. Tides were found to be the dominant factor controlling the flow. The velocity fields measured on similar stages of the tide were compared and contrasted, noting the effects of winds and Coriolis force. Composite velocity fields were prepared by averaging the data from similar tidal phases. Plots of velocity components as a function of distance were prepared to correspond to most of the composite velocity fields; these provided an alternate way of looking at the results. Examination of the horizontal divergence yielded estimates of the entrainment velocity consistent with those of other investigators.

Text

2010-02-16

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/20266

Oceanography

University of British Columbia

Graduate