Internal ADCP Lunchtime Presentation

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Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Technology
December 20, 2005
Trevor Lykens, Tim Sisk, Chris Tomichek
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Introduction to ADCP Technology

• What is ADCP?
• Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler
• What does it measure?
• How does it measure?
• Why use an ADCP?
• Who uses ADCPs?
• How much does it cost?
• Why did we use ADCP recently?

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What is an ADCP?

• Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler
• Works like the radar gun
• Uses sound to make measurements
• SONAR (like RADAR in air)
• SOund NAvigation Ranging

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What Does It Measure?

• ADCPs measures 3Fs
• How fast? speed, velocity
• How far? distance, range, depth
• How full? volume
• WHILE MOVING!!!!

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ADCP
How Does It Measure?

• Uses Beams to Measure Water in Motion

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Discharge / Velocity Measurement
Distance 150 ft
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Why Use an ADCP?

• Moving Discharge / Velocity Measurement
• Much faster than traditional means. Improves
  efficiency, saves money (one run lt5 min)
• Highly accurate measurements
• Hundreds of readings made per pass
• More measurements for peace of mind with data
  quality

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Who Uses ADCPs?

• USGS
• Army Corps of Engineers
• State/Federal Agencies
• Universities
• Irrigation Districts
• Defense Contractors
• Consultants

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ADCPs

• Can measure quickly from bridges or pulley
  system
• Avoids pitfalls of user in the water
• No Maintenance cost
• Save time and money in maintaining the instrument
• Lower overall cost
• Save time and money

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Applications

• Measuring Discharge
• Wave studies
• Sediment Transport Studies
• Scour and erosion studies
• Bathymetry Mapping
• IFIM Studies

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How Much Does It Cost?(RDI Instruments ADCP Cost
Table Through CT Vendor)

• Rio Grande
• Used in larger rivers and streams
• (1.5 ft 225 ft).
• Typically mounted on boat
• Stream Pro
• Used in small streams and brooks
• (3 in 6.5 ft)
• Comes with custom mount
• Sentinel
• Used in canals and larger rivers (Distance
  Varies)
• Permanently mounts on bottom or side

• Purchase Price Rental
• per week
• 23,000 960
• 15,000 600
• 19,000 750

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Rio Grande 1200kHz
Measures from 1.5-ft. to 60-ft. Most versatile
unit Mounts to a boat or Trimaran Software very
easy to use Very Accurate
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Rio Grande 600kHz
Measures from 3.5-ft. to 225-ft. Mounts to a boat
or Trimaran Software very easy to use Very
Accurate
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Rio/Stream-Pro In Action
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ADCP Stream-Pro

• Permits more effective measurement methods in
  shallower depths of 4 in 6.5 ft
• Measures currents from top to bottom at the same
  instant 2 in resolution or even finer
• Bottom-tracking capability allows moving across
  stream continuously
• Safer avoids operator in the water
• Convenient wireless link permits flexible
  operation from shore, bridge, cableway

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WinRiver Software

• Setup Wizard
• Depth
• Boat Speed
• Water Speed
• Bottom Type

• No Need to Memorize Commands

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WinRiver User Interface Screen
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Creates Reports
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Our Recent Application

• ConEd West Springfield Station in Mass.
• 10 Transects across the Connecticut River
• Bathymetry
• Velocities
• Total flow
• Rented Rio-Grande 1200 kHz unit
• Fabricated mount for our boat
• Laptop data collection

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Why Did We Use ADCP Technology?

• Client required by NPDES permit to perform a
  thermal plume study of discharge effects at West
  Springfield Station
• Efficient means to gather bathymetric, velocity,
  and therefore flow data
• Relatively inexpensive (see cost table)

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West Springfield Transects
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Study Results

• Performed 10 transects in the CT River in lt4 hrs
• Calculated cumulative flow in river was within
  5 at all transects
• Very rainy day with pulsing inflows
• Collected data is being incorporated into Thermal
  Plume hydraulic modeling (John Richardson _at_ Blue
  Hill Hydraulics)
• Output was simple text file
• Also can have ASCII output files
• Create own output reports or graphs with WinRiver
• The ADCP was very User-Friendly

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ADCP Summary

• ADCP Technology is accepted by academia, state
  and federal agencies, etc.
• Relatively inexpensive and produces quality data
• Multiple ADCP models make the technology very
  versatile (Resolution, Depth, etc.)
• Very user-friendly software and tech support
• RDI has 24/7 Telephone Support
• RDI University (take classes on line for free)

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Questions?

• For more info contact Chris Tomichek,
• Tim Sisk, or Trevor Lykens