Plots of the monthly mean flow and current ellipse illustrate the relative magnitude of the monthly mean flow and of the hour-averaged and low-passed current fluctuations. Plots of monthly observed mean current flow (as arrows) and variability (principal ellipse centered around the tip of the mean flow arrow) were created for each year of observation. In these plots, the top of the page is to the north and the right of the page is to the east. The mean flow and ellipse were calculated for all months with more than 360 hours (15 days) of data. Typically the current originates at the origin of the mean flow arrow and flows toward any point within the current ellipse. The ellipse calculated from the hour-averaged data generally reflects the tidal currents, whereas the ellipse calculated from the low-passed data reflects current fluctuations on time scales of a few days and longer caused by wind, density gradients, and circulation in the adjacent Gulf of Maine. The values of the mean flow shown in these plots may be found in the Statistics section of this report and the values of the principal ellipse in the Principal Axes section.

* = Point Current Meter

*Table containing a list of the depth of the deepest ADCP bin for each deployment.

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