float

In oceanography, a float is a device used to measure ocean currents or track the movement of water. These floats can be at the surface or at a specific depth. Surface floats can be tracked by satellites, while subsurface floats require acoustic tracking.1

Ocean currents are driven by wind and influenced by Earth's rotation and ocean basin topography. These currents are measured using two main methods: Lagrangian, which tracks individual water parcels with floats or buoys, and Eulerian, which measures flow velocity at a fixed point with a current meter.2

A significant advancement in measuring ocean currents has been the development of low-power microelectronics, improving the accuracy and data-handling capabilities of instruments like the Vector Averaging Current Meter (VACM). Ocean heat content is also measured using floating sensors on buoys, known as Argo floats.13