Numerical prediction of drifting buoy trajectories in the Taiwan Strait based on FVCOM
JIA Yongkang
WANG Bin
ZHANG Xiaoshuang
WU Shuangquan
WANG Zhifeng
Abstract：In the process of floating objects drifting at sea,the underwater part is mainly affected by surface currents and waves,while the floating part is mainly affected by wind.The results showed that the influence of surface current and wind on the direction and trajectory of floating objects was the main factor,while the influence of waves was small and negligible.In this paper,the FVCOM model was used to numerically predict the surface flow field of the Taiwan Strait,and the FVCOM simulation flow field and ERA5 wind field were used as the background field of drifting buoy movement.At the same time,the influence of wave force on drifting buoy movement was ignored,and the lagrangian particle tracking method was used to simulate the movement track of drifting buoy.The wind-induced drift co-efficient was used to correct the trajectory of the simulated drifting buoy.The results showed that when the wind-induced drift coefficient was 0.04,the simulated trajectory of drifting buoy fitted well with the measured trajectory.The simulation error was 1.74 km in 6 hours,5.78 km in 12 hours,7.29 km in 24 hours,0.66 km in 48 hours and 9.54 km in 72 hours.The error of 96 hours was 29.97 km.
Keywords：lagrangian particle trackingFVCOM modeldrift trajectoryTaiwan Strait
Publication Date：2025-12-30
Online Publishing Date：2026-05-22(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：11( 1-11 )