The records derived from our current meters gave an excellent check on 

 the velocities of ascent and descent, the transit time being very clearly 

 defined. It is not known to what extent the deviation from a vertical path 

 caused the transit time to be increased. From our records, the average 

 descent velocity was 46.2 cm/sec and the average ascent velocity was 46.2 

 cm/sec. The discrepancy in velocity is largely accounted for by the in- 

 creased buoyancy actually provided by our glass spheres. 



From these velocities and the known value of the ballast weights re- 

 leased, the drag coefficient for the entire instrument package is calculated 

 &s 0.78±.06. 



Summary of Results 



A total of four installations and recoveries of this system were 

 made during the summer of 1964. Table 1 is a summary of the l6cations and 

 length of records obtained. 



Table 1 



Current Meter Installations - Locations and Depths 



Installation Number 



1 



2 

 3 

 4 



The first two observations occurred sixty- four hours apart. Records 

 from both these installations indicate a current of 10 to 20 cm/sec at a 

 heading of 125° to 130°. In the third observation the indicated velocities 

 were of the order of zero to 2 cm/sec. These readings must be interpreted 

 with cuation, since they lie in a range of speeds for which the Savonius 

 rotor may be non-linear (Gaul, 1962; Sexton, 1964). In the Gulf Stream 

 observations, a current of 10 cm/sec at 033° is indicated (Rnauss, in press). 



SUMMARY 



Adoption of this technique of a free falling package makes possible the 

 acquisition of oceanographic data from near the ocean bottom. The present 

 configuration, while limited in payload to fairly small instruments, is 

 easily handled over the side of a ship without the need for special handling 

 techniques and equipment. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 



This work was done under the direction of John A. Knauss. Ferris Webster 

 lent assistance in the reduction of the data. The work was supported in part 

 by Contract Nonr-396(08) of the Office of Naval Research. 



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