Role And The Importance Of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler On Oceanography

Measuring current is an unavoidable practice of physical oceanographers, which helps determine ocean water movement. Water current measurement helps scientists determine how organisms, nutrients, biological and chemical constituents travel across the ocean. This measurement is done through an ADCP (Acoustic Doppler current profiler).

What Is The Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler?

This device utilizes sound waves to measure the ocean's current speed and direction throughout the water column. This helps in understanding important information regarding the biological, chemical, and physical properties of the ocean.

How Does It Work?

ADCP utilizes the Doppler effect transmitting sound 'pings.' This effect makes use of a sequence of consistent, rapid pulses that bounces back particles hanging in moving water, reflecting back to the instrument.

Fast-moving particles toward the instrument return waves with a higher frequency; however, particles moving away from the instrument produce low-frequency return. This creates the difference between the particle moving at a similar speed of water carrying it. The difference in the frequency between the sound waves the profiler sends out and the sound waves received is used for calculating how fast the particles and the surrounding water move.

Additionally, the profiler tracks when each ping is returned, as pings that have traveled further (at great depth) will return later, providing current data across the ocean's depth variations.

Working Methodology Of Adcp

There are a series of acoustic transducers used in ADCPs that emit and receive pings from different directions. It can be either mounted directly on a stationary object like a mooring buoy or on the seafloor. Or moving vehicles like a ship, unmanned submarine, or surface vehicle. Here it can be mounted on the bottom of the ship's outer hull.

Frequency Variation In Adcp

Like sonar sound ocean systems, ADCPs are also available in different frequencies ranging from 300 kHz to 38 kHz. Sonar is used by scientists to develop nautical charts, locate underwater hazards for the navigators, search for and fixes positions of the object on the seafloor such as shipwrecks and maps the seafloor, The higher frequency ADCP provides higher resolution data near the surface to the depth range of approximately 70m. However, lower frequency ADCP offers low-resolution data for the depth range of roughly 1300 m. The data is affected by the surrounding noise level in the ocean.

The higher frequency instruments are set to ping frequently compared to lower frequency instruments as acoustic pulses are sent out and received every few seconds by ADCP.

Adcp For Beach And Nearshore Monitoring

Acoustic Doppler current profiler obtains flow velocity information over the depth profile depending upon the sensor orientation. It can also collect backscatter intensity data that helps estimate scattered particle concentration in the instrument field of view. This provides information related to the suspended sediment transport process.

An ADCP offers sampling volume at a much larger rate using multiple receivers. The data collected by ADCP is used for offshore energy surveying, coastal and oceanography studies, ROVs and AUV's, and position measurements of the boat. High-quality ADCP assists operational decision-making as safe and efficient ocean operations depend on the correct environmental data.

Renting Offshore Equipment

Gone are the days when high-quality offshore equipment was tailor-made. You can go with offshore rental equipment that has been developed and operating for customized requirements.

Switching over from the purchase-based model to offshore rental equipment helps operators avoid an unnecessary expenditure relating to owning equipment. As renting appropriate offshore rental equipment is a much faster procedure to start with the data procurement process, it means intelligent thinking can be cost-effectively coupled with efficient engineered equipment. Choose a company that offers a variety of upstream rentals equipment and services for offshore operators, resulting in quality workmanship.