Drifters!

PiNC drifter assembly took place on Friday Jan 13, led by project specialist Matt Spydell. With the help of 3 graduate students (many thanks!), 10 GPS equipped drifters were assembled in less than 5 hours! These surfzone drifters are inexpensive as they are made completely with off-the-shelf items: a hydro flask water bottle (drifter body), a frisbee attached to the drifter bottom (to prevent “surfing” broken waves), and an otter box (attached to the drifter top) that houses 2 handheld GPSs. One GPS (“Optimus”) communicates in real time, over cellular, the drifter position so that each drifter can be tracked (and found!) via an app or on the web in real time. The other GPS (Lycosys GT-31) internally records GPS position and velocity at 1 Hz for later analysis. The drifters are only 30 cm tall and are therefore capable of sampling the shallow estuary and surfzone conditions. The GPSs are accurate enough to resolve nearshore currents and waves, thus, these drifters will measure estuary, estuary mouth, and surfzone currents