Drogued Drifters: What Does It Mean?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of "drogued" and "undrogued" drifters in oceanography, particularly in the context of environmental physics. Participants seek to clarify the meaning and function of drogues in relation to oceanic data collection.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses uncertainty about the term "drogued" and seeks clarification on its meaning in the context of ocean drifters.
  • Another participant suggests that "drogued" relates to concepts like "air or wind blown" and "sea anchor," implying a connection to how these devices operate.
  • A link to a Wikipedia article is provided, which may contain relevant information about drogues.
  • A participant shares a resource related to drogues used for yachts, indicating practical applications of the concept.
  • It is explained that a drogue is a device that helps drifters follow ocean currents at specific depths, with some systems designed to adjust depth to optimize current tracking.
  • A distinction is made between drogues used on drifters and sea anchors, with a reference to a paper that includes diagrams of the deeper vertical drogues utilized in oceanographic studies.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants have not reached a consensus on the definition of "drogued" drifters, but there is a general agreement on the function of drogues in aiding drifters to follow ocean currents. Multiple perspectives on the specifics of drogues and their applications remain present.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes references to specific papers and resources that may contain additional information, but the assumptions and definitions surrounding "drogued" and "undrogued" drifters are not fully resolved.

ATY
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Hey guys,
I am not sure if this is the right forum for this question.
So I started to read some papers for my master thesis in environmental physics (no idea if this is the correct translation) and there they talked about "drogued" drifters and "undrogued" drifters in the ocean, from which they got some data. Can somebody explain to me what "drogued" means ? I tried to look it up, but all I find is the translation of a french word.
Hope you can help me,
ATY
 
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If I say, "Air or wind blown," and, "Sea anchor," to you ...?
 
It's just what the previous posters have been talking about. The drogue is a big hole-y sock that makes the drifter tend to follow the currents at whatever depth the drogue is deployed at. Some more sophisticated systems deliberately change depth to "ride" the currents at different depths.
 

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