Current data from breakwater harbor, southeastern Delaware Bay

In a Study of the present and past processes of the breakwater Harbor-Cape Henlopen area, currents were measured with a General Oceanics film recording current meter (Model 2010) in two locations within Breakwater Harbor. An accurate representation of trends and variabilities in the current regime of the harbor was produced. The data are presented in a "rose diagram" with the radius of sectors representing the percentage of the readings that were recorded flowing in the indicated direction. Different rose diagrams were drawn for velocity groups at 10 cm/sec increments. The data in each sector are divided according to whether the readings were recorded during times of predicted flood or predicted ebb tidal currents. The data indicate that the Harbor is strongly dominated by ebb tidal currents, both as a result of higher ebb currents and the longer duration of ebb tides. Our system of deployment and retrieval of the current meter requires no buoy on the surface, no mechanical or electronic release mechanism, and no SCUBA diving. This makes it well suited for use in coastal and estuarine waters where accurate navigation is easy. These collection techniques and data presentation format are a reasonable solution to some of the problems of cost effective, reliable, and accurate current data collection and analysis.