FIELDING A CROSS SHORE ARRAY OF GAGES IN AN

ENERGETIC COASTAL ENVIRONMENT

Daniel A. Freer, Brian Scarborough, and Jason Pipes

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Field Research Facility
Duck, North Carolina, USA
Dan.Freer@usace.army.mil

Abstract— with decades of experience deploying and

recovering gages in the near shore coastal environment we have
learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t.
Capturing some of this technical knowledge here may be useful to
those working in or planning instrument deployments in the
challenging surf zone and cross shore areas. Both the working
techniques and some of the failed attempts will be shared for the
benefit, and entertainment, of those interested in the challenges of
these areas. Techniques employed to obtain deployment
durations of up to 6 years will be discussed, as well as, the basic
working components or practical aspects, which will be presented
in topics such as; Survey Techniques, Instrument Mounts, Pipes
and Pods, Antifouling Techniques, Cables and Splices,
Deployment Vessels, Diver Operations, Troubleshooting and
Fault Isolation. Up-close pre and post deployment pictures and
even vendor information will give a real nuts and bolts look at the
deployment techniques. Years of experience have given us some
knowledge, but if we don’t share it, it stays in peoples’ heads and
goes away with them. It is the authors’ hope that an ongoing
information exchange or working group will be established for
the mutual benefit of those interested. This way the knowledge
that is out there can be passed on.

Fig. 1. Outer Banks Map

I. INTRODUCTION
The US Army Corps of Engineers, Field Research Facility, is
located on the Outer Banks in Duck, NC. The maps of Figures
1 and 2 give the general and close up location information and
show the placement of the gages in the cross shore array at the
FRF. This website link,
http://frf.usace.army.mil/frfzoom.shtml provides up-to-date
data as well as information for each gage. While the gages of
the array are the subjects involved, the topics for discussion
will be the techniques, methods and processes employed to
ensure a successful long term deployment and recovery of
each gage and the particular survivability requirements for
each location from swash zone out to 10 nautical miles. All of
the gages in the cross shore array are cabled to shore with the
exception of the waverider buoys.

First, by way of introduction are Table 1 and Figures 3 Fig. 2. FRF Pier and Cross Shore Array Map
through 8 to identify the gages that make up the array,
followed by the discussion topics listed below:

978-1-4673-0831-1/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE This is a DRAFT. As such it may not be cited in other works.
The citable Proceedings of the Conference will be published in
IEEE Xplore shortly after the conclusion of the conference.
 • Surveying in a gage
• Mounts and Moorings
• Cables and Splices
• Power and Communications
• Antifouling
• Deploy and Recovery
• Diver Operations
• Troubleshooting and Fault Isolation.

TABLE I. GAGES OF THE FRF CROSS SHORE ARRAY

QTY DESCRIPTION MFG.

2 WAVERIDER BUOY DATAWELL

Fig. 4. Nortek AWAC with battery pack and (not used) acoustic modem
4 ACOUSTIC WAVE AND CURRENT METER (AWACS) NORTEK

15 PRESSURE GAGES SENSOMETRICS

2 AQUADOPP, CURRENT PROFILERS NORTEK

2 PRESSURE GAGES PAROSCIENTIFIC

1 ALTIMETER TRITECH

Fig. 5. Sensometric Pressure Gages in deployment pressure cases

Fig. 3. Datawell Waverider Buoy

Fig. 6. Nortek Aquadopp current profiler

2

Fig. 7. Paroscientific, Pressure gage clamped to deployment frame
Fig. 8. TriTech, Altimeter clamped to deployment fixture
II. SURVEYING IN THE GAGE AND FINDING IT AGAIN
This topic is discussed first because a site survey should be the
first step in deciding where to put the gage. In selecting a
location for the gage a good bathymetric survey of the
deployment area is useful to set the gage at the desired depth
and at an elevation that will ensure it won’t get buried. In
addition, reviewing prior survey data will provide information
on how much the bottom varies over time and storms.
Acoustic gages must be uncovered to provide data up through
the water column. Data stops if they become buried because
the bottom fills in, as in a sand bar moving onshore or
offshore. The only recourses when this occurs are to wait and
hope the sand bar or bottom moves down again or to
reposition the gage. Repositioning after deployment is a
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costly and difficult endeavor which makes initial placement
worth the time and effort it takes to get it right.
Surveying the gage to very accurate latitude, longitude and
elevation coordinates are necessary for data quality and to find
the gage again after initial deployment. A GPS with Real Time
Kinematics (RTK) provides the desired accuracies using three
different, site dependent, techniques. First in the swash zone
the Coastal Research Amphibious Buggy (CRAB) (Fig. 9)
provides a working platform for jetting pipes into the bottom
and for measurements from the CRAB’s GPS antenna down to
the top of the pipe or instrument. Second, for sites at depths of
6 to 12 meters, a set of fixed length poles are used to keep the
antenna high and dry while a diver holds the other end of the
pole at a reference collar on the instrument on the bottom.
This works best with two divers; one on the surface to steady
the pipe and the other maintaining the connection on the
bottom to the reference point. Third, for deeper sites, where
an erector set of poles is not practical, the survey LARC-V
(Lighter, Amphibious, Resupply, Cargo, 5 ton capacity) (Fig.
10) is utilized with its RTK GPS and a very accurate pencil
beam echo sounder to repeatedly “ping” the bottom to get an
accurate elevation measurement of the seafloor. Now the
diver measures from the seafloor to a reference point on the
bottom mounted gage, usually the pressure port orifice, which
gives us the gage elevation. To get the latitude and longitude
readings the LARC’s GPS antenna is positioned directly above
the gage. This is done using a line attached to the gage at the
bottom and maneuvering the LARC so the line is straight up
and down and aligned with the GPS antenna.
Armed with these very accurate location numbers when we
return to service or recover the instrument, the typical
technique to find it again is as follows: First, a weighted buoy
is dropped “on the numbers” to give the divers a starting
reference. The diver then uses a line attached to the weight of
this marker buoy to do a circle search on the bottom. Once
found the diver attaches the buoy line to the instrument which
now becomes the working up-down line. Where space
permits, such as instrument pod mounts, an Underwater
Acoustic Transponder (UAT) is also used as a diver aid in
locating the gage. The diver holds the transponder
interrogator and is directed to the “pinger” on the gage pod.
These pingers are useful in low visibility situations to guide
the diver to the gage. They have a maximum battery life of
one year and are replaced on each service dive.

Fig. 9. CRAB with GPS antenna
Fig. 10. Survey equipped LARC
III. MOUNTS AND MOORINGS
Choosing a mount is all about where the gage is to be placed
and the size of the gage itself. For the cross shore array we
will start closest to shore and work seaward explaining the
variations as we transition from the waves breaking right on
our instruments to the offshore locations where fishing trawler
nets and big storm waves are felt.
A. Swash zone out to around 6 meters depth
The best approach in this zone is to use a pipe jetted into the
bottom to hold the instrument in place. It is crucial to keep the
foot print as small as possible to absorb less energy. As a rule,
the closer to shore the bigger and deeper the pipe required to
disperse the energy. The goals of the mount are to last for
several years and to be a steady platform for our gage, in spite
of the surge and wave energy. To accomplish this we need to
go deep. Way deep. To mount the Altimeter and pressure
gages in this location we used a 5 meter long pipe consisting
of 0.1 meter square stainless steel box tubing. This provided
the holdfast needed to keep the gages securely in place. As
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you can see from the Figures 7 and 8 above, the gages are
relatively small when compared to the box tubing pipe shown
ready for CRAB deployment in Figure 11 below.
Fig. 11. CRAB with 5 meter long pipe to hold altimeter and pressure sensors
in the swash zone
The next pipe mounted gages are the Nortek, Aquadopp
current profilers at 2.5 and 3 meters depth, followed by two
AWACs at 5 and 6 meters depth. Pipes are preferred over
pods in these areas because of the breaking wave hydraulics
that can “pump” an instrument pod right out of the bottom,
jetted pipes and all. Figure 12 shows an Aquadopp and an
altimeter in a stainless steel u-channel mount. This is bolted to
the tee bar mount attached to the jetted in pipe. Figure 13
shows the pipe mounted AWAC “crown” mount. It’s made of
aluminum and the teardrop zinc anodes look like jewels in the
crown. They are bolted to the pipe mount which looks like a
round pizza tray welded to the top of the pipe.
B. 6 to 12 meters depth
Whether the gage is cabled to shore or stand alone, a trawler
resistant pod (Fig. 14) is ideal for this depth and energy
spectrum. The pod is held fast on the bottom by 4 jetted in 2.5
meter pipes, one pipe for each corner of the pod. The gage is
typically mounted on a detachable plate, called a cassette that
is screwed down inside the pod. For cable-to-shore
installations, an umbilical soft cable of sufficient length to
reach the surface is required for servicing or replacing the
gage.
 Fig. 12. Aquadopp channel mount with altimeter on the right

Fig. 14. Trawler resistant instrument pod with AWAC cassette installed

Fig. 13. Pipe mounted AWAC in the “Crown” mount

C. Moorings for the 15 and 26 meter Waverider buoys

For these depths two waverider buoys are utilized in the cross
shore array. The moorings (Fig. 15) consist of steamer chain
that lies on the bottom, coupled to plastic coated galvanized
cable with an underwater float attached to keep the cable from
chaffing on the bottom. The cable is then attached to a bungee
cord which decouples the buoy from the bottom mooring so it
can “feel” each wave. Finally a swivel and short stainless
steel chain attaches from the bottom of the buoy to the bungee.
Deploying this very heavy mooring is tricky, because once the
weight of the chain starts to go there is no stopping it. The
method used to deploy a buoy and mooring is to have
everything connected, laid out and tied down on deck. Then
put the buoy in the water and trail it behind the boat while
steering in a large circle with the buoy to the inside of the
circle. Untie each section, bungee, and then cable and finally
chain bitter end first. The way the chain rests on the bottom is
important so it doesn’t rest on the cable and the design allows
some links of chain to be lifted off the bottom in the cases of a Fig. 15. Waverider mooring chain staged on the deck of the LARC
storm surge or big pull on the mooring.

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 IV. CABLES AND SPLICES
Cabling that can hold up to the energy thrusting it about, as
well as operating under water for years at a time is an integral
part of gage real-time powering and communication. The
ingredients for our cable and splice systems are a great topic
for instruction and discussion. Double armor “Well log” cable
(Fig. 16) is the backbone of the interface to a deployed gage.
It is built for rugged environments, (Oil Wells), and because of
the weight of the double armor strands, it will bury into the
bottom which protects it from the constant surge. It has seven
insulated conductors that are 20 AWG gauge with 7 strands
each of bare copper wire. The cable is considered a “wet”
cable in that water can penetrate through the armor strands but
is stopped at the individual conductors’ insulation.

Fig. 17. Cable splice showing wire dam and soldered wires with blue heat
shrink insulation. Armor cable is to the right. Yellow cable on the left is
the gage service cable.

V. ANTIFOULING: PAINT, TAPE, COPPER PLUGS AND SCREENS,

PASTE WITH ZINC

For the metal mounts and buoys, antifouling paint is used to

reduce growth. On the instruments themselves, some special
techniques have proven successful. First a copper screen
material, actually pieces of “Chore Boy” copper scouring pads
are put in the port openings for pressure gages (Fig. 18). Clear
antifouling paint, like that used on outboard motors, provides
effective antifouling of the acoustic gage transducer faces.
Fig. 16. Spool of Double armor cable on LARC deck ready for deployment

In order to splice a “wet” cable a wire dam is used to block the

water from traveling up the outside of each conductor and into
the splice. Figure 17 shows the wire dam (Flesh colored) and
the soldered conductors with blue heat shrink insulation. The
yellow wire to the left is the “dry” gage service cable or
pigtail, which has a watertight connector molded onto the
instrument end. A splice mold is used to keep the urethane in
place while it cures, which takes about 3 hours. Once cured it
seals both cables from seawater intrusion. The weak link of a
splice is typically not seawater intrusion, but movement. Any
movement of the cables or splice, due to currents, surge or
wave energy will eventually break a conductor. To give you
some idea, just think about bending a piece of wire back and
forth until it breaks. That movement must be eliminated, as
much as possible, if the splice is going to last in this energetic
Fig. 18. AWAC with clear paint on transducers and copper screen in pressure
environment. Gage service cable is a dry or sealed cable, in port opening to prevent bio-fouling
that the outside insulating sheath is waterproof. The splice
urethane adheres to this outer jacket to form the seal. It is
necessary to rough-up the outer surface to ensure good
adhesion between the urethane and the cable outer jacket.

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In addition, a zinc oxide based paste, actually, the original
Desitin® diaper rash ointment, (not the creamy version), is
smeared on the transducer faces for added antifouling
protection. Figure 19 shows a good example of how well the
paste held up on this RDI ADCP 7 month deployment.
Fig. 19. Desitin® ointment used to protect transducer faces
Taping the gage to prevent accumulation of bio-fouling on the
surfaces of the gage aids in recovery cleaning and keeps
critters out of sensitive o-ring sealing seams. If the tape
should come loose during deployment it can wave in front of
the transducers and affect the gage data. The Pasco® 10-mil
pipe wrap tends to stay in place and its elasticity allows it to
form to irregular shapes.
VI. POWER AND COMMUNICATIONS:
A. Internal Batteries
If the gage is to be a standalone deployment, such as the
waverider buoys, then batteries will be required to power the
gage for the deployment. In this case, everything is power
dependent. So the collection parameters and desired
deployment duration have to be tweaked to accommodate the
battery power available.
B. Cabled Shore Power
In this case as long as the gage is getting power from shore it
can collect data. This allows the user to select any desired
collection parameters without regard for power. The
drawback is that when shore power is lost the gage stops
collecting however, the advantage of a smaller footprint
outweighs this drawback for the 5 and 6 meter AWACs and
for all of the pressure gages.
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C. Cabled to Shore and Internal Batteries
This is the typical pod configuration in the 8 to 12 meter
depths. Truly the best of all worlds, in that, if shore power is
lost the gage keeps on functioning on the batteries and records
data internally. This can make all the difference in a big storm
event if the shore cable fails. Figure 20 shows a cabled
AWAC cassette with the back-up battery pack.
Fig. 20. AWAC cassette with gage on top and battery pack on bottom
D. Communications
The four wire RS-422 differential serial interface is used to
communicate with the cabled-to-shore real-time gages. Even
though the double armor cable is not in a twisted pair
configuration, good communication links are possible with
1500 meter cable runs and baud rates up to 57,600. Looking
at the differential signals with an oscilloscope allows the user
to tune the impedance of the line by installing terminating
resistors as necessary at the ends of the transmission lines.
The waverider buoys communicate via Irridium satellite
modems and High Frequency (HF) continuous wave (CW)
broadcasts.
VII. DEPLOY AND RECOVER
A. Cable Deployment
The deployment vessels at the FRF are the CRAB and the
LARC. The LARC is especially suited for laying a cable,
since it can drive right up onto the beach. This makes the
transition from wet to dry go smoothly without the need for
extra boats or people pulling cable in the surf zone. Figure 21
shows the LARC spooling off a cable headed for shore.
B. Pod and Gage Deployments
Again the LARC with its boom and winch is the right tool for
the job of lowering an instrument pod into the ocean and
recovering it.
C. Dive Operations:
Divers get things done underwater that might seem easy or
simple on land, but are extremely challenging under water.
Good technically competent commercial divers help improve
the quality of any off shore gage installation. Divers find
things, as discussed in the survey section above, and are an
integral part of the deployment team. Once the pod is placed
on the sea floor the diver jets in the pipes to secure the pod to
the bottom. This is done using a water pump connected to hose
and finally the pipe to be jetted. It’s a lot to handle and control
as the water coming out of the pipe under pressure is blowing a
hole in the bottom. Not only does the diver control how deep
to set the pipe, but he must also be careful not to get himself
stuck in the bottom with the pipe. This is where good
communications and careful safety planning come into play. In
addition the divers bolt in the gage cassette and secure the gage
service cable inside the pod. They are also responsible for
entertaining the dive inspector/mascot shown in Figure 22.
Fig. 21. LARC deploying cable from gage to shore
Fig. 22. Dive Operations and a curious pelican
VIII. TROUBLESHOOTING AND FAULT ISOLATION
Recording the preliminary gage and cable system parameters
during “dry” testing will give us a list and view of the normal
operating characteristics. Such things as, how much current
the gage draws under normal operation and what is the
impedance of the cable conductors with and without the gage
connected to it become useful tools when something goes
wrong. For instance, if the gage is drawing normal current,
but is not sending data, we know the problem is in the
communication section and can focus our fault isolation steps
there. The main goal in troubleshooting is to first determine
whether something can be done on shore or if divers are
required. The “wet” options are to replace the gage, the cable
or both. Once the gage and cable are brought to the surface,
the cable can be disconnected from the gage and “buzzed-out”
to the shore end. If the cable is bad a wet-end splice between
the armor cable and a new pigtail soft cable is required. If the
cable checks good the gage must be replaced. Spares are also
an excellent way to quickly restore a failed gage and minimize
diver time needed. If the same gage must be pulled, repaired
and then redeployed it requires two separate dive days. With a
spare gage, the old one comes out and the new one goes in
using just one dive day.
IX. CONCLUSIONS
This attempt to share some interesting examples of
equipment life in the surf zone has lead this author to the
realization that truly, the more you know the more you know
you don’t know. Any one of the topics could have been
expanded to a ten page paper, but at least some information for
the keys areas that need to be addressed for successful gage
operations were offered. Again it is the authors’ desire that
information exchanges among interested engineers and
technicians will be established, if for no other reason just so we
can tell our stories and they can be passed on.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Support for this work was provided by US Army Corps of
Engineers under its Coastal Field Data Collection Program.
Permission was granted by the Chief of Engineers to publish
this information. The authors would like to express their
thanks to Jeff Hanson and Bill Birkemeier for their careful
editing and insightful comments on the paper.