Acoustic Doppler Technology for Streamflow

Data CollectionDon Hayes

Richmond, Va.

History

• Vane

• Electro-magnetic Velocity Meter

• Acoustic Velocity Meter

• Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers

Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers

ADCP Applications• Instantaneous Discharge Measurement

• Continuous Measurement—fixed mount

• Hydrographic Survey

• Calibrate and Validate Two-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Models

• Estimating Sediment Concentrations Using Acoustic Backscatter

Why do people want to use ADCP’s?

1. More accurate measurements

2. Better science (model calibration, water quality studies, etc.)

3. Safety and Efficiency

Theory of DischargeTheory of DischargeMeasurementsMeasurements

Conventional Discharge Measurement

Width

Depth

Velocity

Acoustic Profiler Discharge Measurement

Measured and Unmeasured Areas

VerticalShore estimate

TriangularShore estimate

Top estimate

Bottom estimate

Measured

It is not magicIt is not magicQuality Assurance is importantQuality Assurance is important

Progression of ADCP Use

Indiana’s Original Tethered Boat

• Catamaran design

• Aluminum frame

• Wireless modems

Handle

Foam floats

Electronics box

ADCP

OceanScience RiverBoat

• Cost is ~$2,500. Comes with ADCP cable and radio/power connectors

• Can be adapted to other profilers (SonTek)

• 47 purchased by USGS

ADCP

Slot for

rudder

Tennessee Tethered Boat

Cost: < $600 US

Nortek BoogieDopp

• Integrated radio modem interface

• Deployed from “boogie board”

• Discharge computation software runs on WinCE (PocketPC)

• Discharge is computed in real time, post-processing can be done at the office (review of data, velocity profiles)

Remote Controlled Boat Prototype running at 18 ft/s

SonTek FlowTracker

• Keypad

• LED display

• 2/4 MB recorder

• Similar to Aquacalc

• Measurements stored as binary file (*.wad)

Questions?