Fluorescent Tracers

 

Fluorescent tracer methodologies have been described in the recent literature (e.g. Ciavola et al., 1997; 1998; 2005; Castiglione et al., 2007). Basically the method consists of paint a large amount of sediments with fluorescent paint and follow the sdiment transport after its injection on the beach. The dispersion of the tracer mass can be studied using spatial integration (SIM method). In this case, the choice of the characteristics of the sampling grid (spacing, dimensions) is usually taken in the field, and the image aquisition is done using a portable image system equipped with UV lamps. The images taken by the camera are then processed with a MATLAB script which is able to count the quantity of fluorescent particles of each size.