Journal article
Investigation of Two Elemental Error Sources in Boat-Mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Measurements by Large Eddy Simulations
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol.135(11), pp.875-887
11/2009
DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0000083
Abstract
Measurements of water discharge and flow velocities in riverine and tidal environments are commonly made with acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) mounted on a moving boat. This paper presents results of high-resolution Large Eddy simulations (LES) conducted to investigate two elemental error sources in ADCP measurements from a moving boat. One of these errors is due to the flow disturbance induced by the boat-mounted ADCP. The other error is due to the lack of flow homogeneity in horizontal layers assumed by the ADCP algorithm to compute orthogonal velocities from the measured radial velocities along the acoustic beams. The first error is investigated by comparing LES results for an undisturbed flow field with LES results for a flow field disturbed by a boat-mounted ADCP. The second error is investigated by comparing the velocities beneath the ADCP simulated by LES with virtual ADCP velocities, which are obtained by applying the ADCP algorithm to LES velocities data mined along the path of the acoustic beams of the virtual profiler. The distribution of the Reynolds stresses beneath the ADCP estimated with the ADCP algorithm from the virtual ADCP velocity data are also compared with those obtained from the LES solutions for both the undisturbed and ADCP-disturbed flows. Results show that the boat significantly disturbs the flow field and that the disturbed flow field is qualitatively different from the flow fields observed around an isolated ADCP (no boat).
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Investigation of Two Elemental Error Sources in Boat-Mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Measurements by Large Eddy Simulations
- Creators
- T Tokyay - Univ. of Iowa , Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, , Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory, Iowa City, IA 52242. E-mailG Constantinescu - Univ. of Iowa , Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, , Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory, Iowa City, IA 52242 (corresponding author). E-mailJuan A Gonzalez-Castro - South Florida Water Management District , Operations and Hydro Data Management Division, , West Palm Beach, FL 33410. E-mail
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol.135(11), pp.875-887
- DOI
- 10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0000083
- ISSN
- 0733-9429
- eISSN
- 1943-7900
- Publisher
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/2009
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9983992069502771
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