Water Resources of Michigan

Visualization of Drifting Buoy Deployments on Upper Detroit River within the Great Lakes Waterway from August 28-30, 2001

US Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-1
Lansing, Michigan 2002

Long Version available in Web (HTML) format at:
http://mi.water.usgs.gov/pubs/OF/OF02-1/OF02-1LW.php

Contents

• Abstract
  
• Introduction
  
  • Location
    
  • Purpose and Scope
  • Previous investigations
  • Acknowledgements
• Methods
  • Selection of Study Reaches
  • Buoy and Drogue Characteristics
  • Buoy Deployments
  • Ancillary Data
    • Flow Measurements
    • Water-level Measurements
    • Wind Measurements
  • Animation Techniques
• Results
• Summary
• References Cited
  

FIGURES
1. Map showing St. Clair-Detroit River Vicinity
2. Map showing selected reaches in the Detroit River upstream from Fighting Island.
3. Photograph showing cylindrical and spherical buoys used in Detroit River deployments.
4. Photograph showing drogue attached to a cylindrical buoy to reduce effects of wind on buoy movements.
5. Photograph showing crew members from Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, Environment Canada, and U.S. Geological Survey preparing to deploy drifting buoys on Detroit River.
6. Photograph showing buoy cluster deployment on Detroit River upstream from the Renaissance Center, Detroit, Michigan.
7. Photograph showing U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Staff Preparing for Flow Measurements on Detroit River using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP)
8. Graph showing water levels at gaging stations on upper Detroit River from August 28-30, 2001.
9. Graph showing wind data from Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Mount Clemens, Michigan
10. Map containing links for animations of buoy deployments on Detroit River upstream of Fighting Island.

Tables
1. Timing of buoy releases on Detroit River
2. Flow measurements during buoy deployments on Detroit River

Tables-Appendix
CONVERSION FACTORS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND VERTICAL DATUM

CONVERSION FACTORS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND VERTICAL DATUM

Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) can be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) by the following equation:

°C = (°F-32)/1.8

Vertical Datum: The vertical datum currently used throughout the Great Lakes is the International Great Lakes Datum of 1985 (IGLD 1985), although references to the earlier datum of 1955 are still common. This datum is a dynamic height system for measuring elevation, which varies with the local gravitational force, rather than an orthometric system, which provides an absolute distance above a fixed point. The primary reason for adopting a dynamic height system within the Great Lakes is to provide an accurate measurement of potential hydraulic head. The reference zero for IGLD (1985) is a tide gage at Rimouski, Quebec, which is located near the outlet of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River system. The mean water level at the Rimouski, Quebec gage approximates mean sea level.

Citation:

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