Journal of Plankton Research, Vol 21, 1865-1875, Copyright © 1999 by Oxford University Press
A De Robertis and M Ohman
Many zooplankton species perform diel vertical migrations (DVM) which, in
conjunction with vertical current shear, complicate the use of conventional
fixed-depth drifters to account for advection. Here we illustrate the first
use of an autonomous Vertically Migrating Drifter (VMD) to mimic DVM
behavior. The vehicle resides within different subsurface layers at
different times of day through either active hover cycles or passive
drifts. It moves vertically between these layers at speeds comparable to
those recorded for migratory populations. In this mode, it can be utilized
as a tool to estimate the advection of migratory zooplankton in regions of
high vertical current shear and can be employed as a Lagrangian tracer when
attempting to sample the same population repeatedly over time.
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
A free-drifting mimic of vertically migrating zooplankton
Marine Life Research Group, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093-0227, USA
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