After the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 there was an immediate search to try to find the plane. When satellite images showed that debris was found at multiple locations in the Southern Ocean, over a thousand miles from the southwest coast of Australia, many questions arose about how to track such debris. Where did it come from? Where is it going? To aid in the quandary of debris movement, ocean currents were used. Ocean Surface Current Analyses Real-time (OSCAR), generated by Dr. Kathleen Dohan at Earth and Space Research (ESR), are ocean currents derived from multiple satellite measurements, such as the Jason-2/Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM), QuikSCAT, AVHRR, and others. OSCAR illustrates the large-scale motion of the ocean in addition to flow instabilities such as eddies. In the Southern Ocean, OSCAR shows a strong eastward current otherwise known as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), as well as eddies due to flow instabilities in the ACC. The ACC could transport the debris to the east, while eddies could spin the debris in a circular pattern (counterclockwise and/or clockwise rotation) and slowly drift westward or eastward, depending on the rotation of the eddy.
- New Republic – 03/18/2014 – These Ocean-Current Maps Could Help Us Find the Malaysia Airlines Plane If…
- 30 Seconds to Know (NBC News) – 03/25/2014 – Why Is Plane Debris Hard to Find in Indian Ocean?
- Morning Joe (MSNBC) - 03/21/2014 – The impact of wind, currents on plane search
- NBC Nightly News - 03/21/14 - Two Weeks Later Jets Whereabouts Remain Mystery
- MSNBC - 03/22/14 - Search for Flight 370 using computer modeling
- The Cycle (MSNBC) - 03/21/14 - Investigators circle remote corners or globe in search for Flight 370
- The Cycle (MSNBC) - 03/24/14 - Ships scouring Indian Ocean for new objects
- National Geographic – 04/04/2014 - Plane Search Shows World's Oceans Are Full of Trash