During the summer of 1996, Kincaid from GSO, Peter
Patton (from Wesleyan University), Ed Dettman (from
the EPA) and a number of GSO students will be involved
in a field experiment to constrain circulation patterns
within Narragansett Bay. Shown here is the Bay in map view.
Data on current velocities will be obtained simultaneously
using 3 Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers along cross sections
WP (west passage), EP (east passage) and SR1 (lower Sakonnet
River). Data will be collected over a complete tidal cycle. A
second full day of data collection using the 3 ADCPs will be to characterize fluxes
through lines EP2-EP3, UB1-UB2 and MHB-SR2, all located in
the upper Bay. In this way, gross tidal circulation patterns
and exchanges between different regions of the Bay will
be examined.
Preliminary ADCP data has been collected along lines WP and EP from
above. The data was collected over a tidal cycle in October of 1995.
This velocity contour field is for data along transect EP during
an ebb tide. The data shows a higher velocity core of outflow situated
on the eastern side of the channel. This type of data provides information on both the pattern of current velocities and the total
flux through a given cross-section.
