  We investigate the statistics of orientation of small, neutrally buoyant,
spherical tracers whose center of mass is displaced from the geometrical
center. If appropriate-sized particles are considered, a linear relation can be
derived between the horizontal components of the orientation vector and the
same components of acceleration. Direct numerical simulations are carried out,
showing that such relation can be used to reconstruct the statistics of
acceleration fluctuations up to the order of the gravitational acceleration.
Based on such results, we suggest a novel method for the local experimental
measurement of accelerations in turbulent flows.
