Currents - Measuring Currents

Oceanographers measure currents in a variety of ways using a variety of equipment, yielding results that range from crude to sophisticated. Currents can be measured directly, by clocking the water movement itself, or indirectly, by looking at some characteristic closely related to water movement. Two common direct ways to measure currents are the lagrangian and the eulerian methods. Lagrangian measurements monitor the movement of water by watching objects that are released into the current. These objects are monitored and recollected at a later time. Eulerian measurements look at the movement of water past a designated fixed location and usually include an anchored current meter.