Water Resources Research Program Nearshore Currents And Water Temperatures In Southwestern Lake Michigan June December 1975

Nearshore currents and water temperatures were measured almost continuously from June 23 through December 22, at five moorings in an array centered 4 km offshore of south Chicago. The mooring array was square, each side 1.6 km long. A current-meter mooring was placed at each corner, with one mooring in the center. One Bendix Q-15 current meter and one YSI temperature sensor were fixed to each mooring line. Each meter and associated temperature sensor was placed at middepth; the water depth averaged about 12 m. The following types of graphs are presented for current and wind observations: (1) U, V flow components versus time, (2) specific kinetic energy versus time, (3) flow speeds and directions versus time, (4) composite velocity histograms and associated U, V-component histograms, and (5) progressive-vector diagrams. Also presented are listings of the component programs used to reduce the data. Currents in the region were dominantly shore-parallel. Water temperatures reflected several episodes of upwelling and downwelling. Detailed analyses of the data will be presented in subsequent reports.