Field investigation of rip currents along the southern coast of the Caspian sea

This article presents, for the first time, an investigation into the presence of rip currents along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. The study site is selected at the Anzali port where 3 people were drowned in one day of summer 2007. Bathymetric surveys were obtained twice during the summers of 2008 and 2009 and rip currents were measured for two days in the summer of 2008 and the summer of 2009 with different wave conditions, using five GPS drifters. An RCM 9 current meter was installed in the rip channel for credibility of the drifter velocity. The cross-shore location of their velocity maxima and the distance they extend offshore are just two important unknowns. These questions were investigated using drifter trajectories. An oblique and a classic rip current were observed in two experiments. A field validation of the drifters shows that correspondence between the drifters and RCM 9 measurements is good.