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Comparison of SF6 and Fluorescein as Tracers for Measuring Transport Processes in a Large Tidal River |
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| Authors: | David T. Ho Peter Schlosser Robert W. Houghton Ted Caplow |
| Affiliation: | 1Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia Univ., Palisades, New York, NY 10964, and Lecturer, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Science, Columbia Univ., New York, NY 10027 (corresponding author). E-mail: david@ldeo.columbia.edu 2Professor, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Professor, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Science, Columbia Univ., and Associate Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia Univ., New York, NY 10027. E-mail: schlosser@ldeo.columbia.edu 3Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia Univ., Palisades, New York, NY 10964. E-mail: houghton@ldeo.columbia.edu 4Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia Univ., New York, NY 10027. E-mail: tc144@columbia.edu |
| Abstract: | We present the first large-scale comparison of a fluorescent dye [fluorescein (C20H10O5Na2)] and a gas [sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)] as tracers of advection and longitudinal dispersion from a dual tracer release experiment conducted in the tidal Hudson River. At the beginning of the experiment, 36?kg of fluorescein and ～ 4.3?mol of SF6 were injected into the Hudson River at an averaged depth of 9.5?m, ～ 1?m above the bottom, near Hyde Park, N.Y. After injection, fluorescein distributions were surveyed for 4 days (until it became undetectable) and SF6 distributions were surveyed for 10 days. The dye resolves initial vertical mixing on the day of injection, and then net advection and longitudinal dispersion, whereas SF6 provides information on net advection and longitudinal mixing on larger spatial scales and longer time scales. Quantitative estimates of transport processes (net advection and longitudinal dispersion) calculated from the two methods are consistent for the first three days, and start to deviate on the fourth day when the signal-to-noise ratio of the dye deteriorated. |
| Keywords: | Advection Dispersion Mixing Tracers Dyes Hudson River Tides |