Articles | Volume 17, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1285-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1285-2021
Research article
 | 
27 Sep 2021
Research article |  | 27 Sep 2021

In situ observations of turbulent ship wakes and their spatiotemporal extent

Amanda T. Nylund, Lars Arneborg, Anders Tengberg, Ulf Mallast, and Ida-Maja Hassellöv

Data sets

ADCP Gothenburg 2018 Lars Arneborg, Amanda Nylund, and Ida-Maja Hassellöv https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5066997

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Short summary
Acoustic and satellite observations of turbulent ship wakes show that ships can mix the water column down to 30 m depth and that a temperature signature of the wake can last for tens of kilometres after ship passage. Turbulent wakes deeper than 12 m were frequently detected, which is deeper than previously reported. The observed extent of turbulent ship wakes implies that in areas with intensive ship traffic, ship mixing should be considered when assessing environmental impacts from shipping.