| The satellite tracking program of the 2 canoes was finalized in January 2005. The project helped us learn a number of things
about the flow in the river as it relates to floating objects.
What we Learned about the Red River :
 Due to it’s winding nature, floating objects tended to travel for a distance and
then got held up in back current areas.
The large number of tree snags along the river bank slowed the travel
progress of free floating surface objects.
The rapid rising nature of the river during rain and high water
events moved objects from a drifting position on the river to a
stranded position on land.
Even though the river travels at
an average rate of 2-3 miles per hour, it is likely to take a floating
object a year or more to travel from Fargo-Moorhead to Lake
Winnipeg in Manitoba.
Once launched, even a canoe equipped with satellite tracking capability
can be difficult to locate and recover.
The information on this project will
remain on the web to give others ideas of water related projects
they may want to try using satellite tracking. This project has
potential for additional research on surface water flow, currents or
other research related to surface water study.
Global Impact of this Project:
An unanticipated outcome of this project was the replication of this concept for other bodies of water in
the United States and globally. The concept was replicated off the
coast of California to attempt to track ocean currents affecting
flow in and out of coastal waters. The study was part of a Forensic Science study
related to an actual homicide case. A documentary is slated for
development on the California study.
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