Shelf sea current profile measurements from the sea surface to the sea bed in autumn

Current profile measurements were obtained during the autumnal breakdown of stratification at a site in the northern North Sea where the tidal currents were weak and the water depth moderate (120 m). During the two month deployment period a succession of storms passed over the site, including one extreme event. An ADCP in a sea bed frame, a conventional current meter string and some near surface current meters were amongst the instruments deployed. The ADCP data were of high quality although the frame moved during the severest storm because of wave effects at the sea bed. Its depth coverage was from 14 to 94 m above the sea bed in 8 m cells. Comparison with the current meter string showed that the ADCP´s speeds were 20% too high (reason unknown), and that its directions were rotated by 7° (perhaps due to the arrangement of the bottom frame). The value of the ADCP data at tidal, inertial and low frequencies is demonstrated and of the top cell as a reference point for the estimation of near surface shear, which was confined at most to the top 25 m. Wind-driven currents measured at 2 m depth were 0.75% of the wind speed and in a direction 25° to the right of the wind