NOAA Current Lab


''There is a river in the ocean.  In the severest droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest floods it never overflows; its banks and its bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm; the Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is the Arctic Sea. It is the Gulf Stream. There is in the world no other such majestic flow of waters.'' - oceanographer Mathew Maury, 1855

Get Background Info:

  1. Open another window or tab, in it paste the following link: http://www.oar.noaa.gov/k12/html/oceancurrents2.html
  2. Click on "Get Info", then click on  "Lagrangian Drifter Float."
  3. List the five sensors found on out of these buoy's.  Once you have listed all five, google them and find out what each does.  Click "back", then click on "Average Atlantic Current Velocity."
  1. The length of the arrows indicate the strength and direction of the currents.  At what longitude are the currents strongest.  How strong are they? You can use a metric ruler and the legend at the top of the page to help you.

Compass


Ocean current information will always be measured in current speed and current direction.  The direction is given as a number.   These numbers refer to the number of degrees around a circle or compass.  A compass has 360 degrees.  A current coming from the east is given as 90 degrees.  A current from the south is given as 180 degrees and so on.

Gather Data

  1. Click "back" to return to the "Ocean's Currents" main page, then click "Return" at the bottom of the page, finally click on "Gather Data"
  2. The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) makes observations using current meter moorings as part of a large climate research study.  You will gather data from their buoys.
  3. Click on "WOCE Current Meter Data", then click on "ACM7- Equatorial Atlantic" .
  4. Find mooring K327 at 100 meters of depth and click "view metadata."
  5. Using these buoy's complete the rest of the chart.
Mooring Name K327 K340 K341 K360 K361
Depth of current meter 100m 50m 50m 100m 50m
Sea floor depth
Mean Current Speed
Mean Current Direction (see compass above)
Position (Latitude and Longitude

  1. ACM7 mapAfter you complete the chart, examine the map so that you can see where these buoys are relative to the coast of Brazil.
  2. Is there any relationship between sea floor depth and current speed?  If so what is the relationship? ______________________
  1. What direction do the currents seem to be going relative to the shore ___________________________?
  1. Go back to the gather data page.   Click "forward", which will take you to "gather data 2."
  2. Click on "Tropical Atmosphere Ocean Array 45 Meter".  Look at the top graph.  
  3. Look at the bottom graph.
  4. Add the necessary information to the chart below.  Click return, then click on "Tropical Atmosphere Ocean Array 160 Meter."  Add the necessary information to the chart below.  Finally do the same for 250 meters.
Depth Average June Current Speed Average June Current Direction
45m                                  cm/sec
160m                                  cm/sec
250m                                  cm/sec

  1. Is there a relationship between sensor depth and current speed?  If so what is it? _________________________________________
  2. Is there a relationship between depth of sensor and current direction?  If so what is it? ______________________________________
  3. Using arrows indicating the right direction, and the length of arrows to indicate speed, draw a picture of what is seen at the three depths.
  4. Click on the link for "Ekman Spiral."  How does your drawing relate to the picture and text on this page? _______________________

Application of Data (based on what you have already learned about currents)