Experimental Observations of The Ekman Layer
There is much difficulty associated with observing the Ekman layer for two main reasons: the theory is too simplistic as it assumes a constant eddy viscosity, which Ekman himself anticipated, saying
| “ | It is obvious that cannot generally be regarded as a constant when the density of water is not uniform within the region considered | ” |
and because it is difficult to design instruments with great enough sensitivity to observe the velocity profile in the ocean.
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