Abstract
Quadcopters can continuously observe ocean surface with high spatial resolution from relatively low altitude, albeit with certain limitations of their usage. Remote sensing from quadcopters provides unprecedented ability to study small river plumes formed in the coastal sea. The main goal of the current work is to describe structure and temporal variability of small river plumes on small spatial and temporal scales, which are limitedly covered by previous studies. We analyze optical imagery and video records acquired by quadcopters and accompanied by synchronous in situ measurements and satellite observations within the Kodor and Bzyp plumes, which are located in the northeastern part of the Black Sea. We describe extremely rapid response of these river plume to energetic rotating coastal eddies. We reveal several types of internal waves within these river plumes, measure their spatial and dynamical characteristics, and identify mechanisms of their generation. We suggest a new mechanism of formation of undulate fronts between small river plumes and ambient sea, which induces energetic lateral mixing across these fronts. The results reported in this study are addressed for the first time as previous related works were mainly limited by low spatial and/or temporal resolution of in situ measurements and satellite imagery.
Funder
Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation
Russian Science Foundation
Subject
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Cited by
26 articles.
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