Tracking of Wave-Current drifters

Figure 1 WRDs on the beach near Half Moon Bay after a field test.

The purpose of this site is to provide a real-time tracking tool for the surface drifters (WRD) deployed by the Theiss Research and NPS teams during the RIVET II experiment in the mouth of the Columbia River.

The drifters used in this study (see figure 1) are developed to measure surface waves and currents. To enable real-time tracking and visualization of the inlet surface flow dynamics, their positions are relayed to this website every five minutes through Iridium satellite communication.

You are free to download and use the drift tracks for your purposes. However, keep in mind that these tracks are posted here for rapid dissemination, with minimum quality control, and they may contain errors. For more detailed info or data access, feel free to contact us.