A comparison of near‐surface CODAR and VACM measurements in the Strait of Juan De Fuca, August 1978

Abstract

Three days of simultaneous near‐surface current measurements made by Coastal Ocean Dynamics Applications Radar (CODAR) and surface‐moored Vector‐Averaging Current Meters (VACM) in the Strait of Juan de Fuca are compared. The study focuses on the mean flow and tidal components that contained approximately 79% of the kinetic energy. The mean speed and direction differences were less than 7 cm/s and 10°, respectively. The K 1 and M 2 tidal constituents agreed to within 14 cm/s with a mean difference of 5.2 cm/s. This study demonstrates that CODAR yields estimates of the near‐surface currents that are comparable with conventional VACM arrays to 10–15 cm/s.