Green Sheet Project: Dye Sheet Evolution
2006
Trump, C. L.
A 300-kHz Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) was used aboard the USNS Bartlett as part of the Green Sheet 91 experiment during June 1991 in the Gulf of Mexico. The purpose of the experiment was to lay out a sheet of dye at the bottom of the mixed layer for later sampling by an airborne LIDAR system. Ship's tracks relative to targeted depths were calculated that reconstructed the dye deployment and sampling process. During the practice deployment, termed Dress Rehearsal , a small front was found between the second and third leg which adversely affected the location and geometry of the dye sheet. During the first LIDAR test, termed Flight One , currents rotating strongly in depth and weakly in the horizontal also adversely affected the character of the final dye sheet. A shear-Advection model was developed, using ADCP data and concurrently recorded navigation data, to predict the dye sheet evolution. The results of the model helped understand the evolution of dye sheets and were in agreement with the results of the LIDAR sampling during Flight One. For future Green Sheet experiments the ADCP should be used to provide real-time ship's tracks relative to a given water depth to aid dye deployment. The Shear-Advection model should be used in near-real-time to aid the vectoring of the plane over the evolved dye sheet.
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