TELEDYNE

RD INSTRUM ENTS
A Teledyne Technologies Company Technical Note
FST-015 (November 2006)
300 kHz Narrow Beam Horizontal ADCP with Directional Wave
Measurement Capability

1 Introduction
Teledyne RD Instruments, the leader in Doppler profiling technology, has
developed the 300-kHz narrow-beam Horizontal Acoustic Doppler Current
Profiler (H-ADCP). The H-ADCP is an acoustic monitoring system that
“looks” out horizontally from its mounting structure to measure near-
surface water currents and multi-directional waves.
Safety:
The measurements are available in real time to the people who need them to
make operational decisions
Robustness:
The measurements are available in all weather conditions – from windless
calm to raging seas
Easy to Maintain:
No surface expression is required – no buoys to deploy, no hazards to navi-
gation
No bottom mounting is required – no scour or burial problems
Three Possible Configurations
1. Typical - balance current profiling range with wave performance
(high frequency cut-off)
• 2.0 Hz data rate
• 4 m bins
• Broadband Mode, 150 m nominal range
2. Long Range - Maximize current profiling range, while retaining rea-
sonable wave performance (high frequency cut-off)
• 2.0 Hz data rate
• 8 m bins
• Long range Mode, 200 m nominal range
3. High Resolution – Maximize current profiling resolution close in to
the ADCP, with good wave performance.
• 2.0 Hz data rate
• 2 m bins
• Broadband mode, 100 m nominal range

FST-015 (November 2006) page 1 of 8

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300 kHz Narrow Beam Horizontal ADCP with Directional Wave Measurement Capability

1.1 Superior Directional Resolution

The Long Range Horizontal ADCP creates a much larger array of measure-
ments than does the vertically oriented ADCP, which results significantly
improved directional resolution. A comparison study between a Long
Range Horizontal ADCP and a nearby vertically oriented ADCP was carried
out in early 2004. Both systems were configured to gather optimal wave
measurements. Below are comparison polar plots taken over the same time
frame. Notice that both systems resolve two wave trains of similar frequen-
cy traveling in different directions, as well as swell from a third direction.
The plot generated by the Horizontal system is on the right, and it is show-
ing the waves much more clearly.

It is important to note that resolving two wave trains of similar frequency

traveling in different directions is only possible with array processing. That
is, without a measurement array such as we create, or that can be created by
deploying multiple instruments, the two wave trains seen above would
probably be incorrectly reported as a single wave traveling from an incor-
rect direction. It is because the array created by the Horizontal can cover
such a large spatial extent that the resolution from its array is so much bet-
ter than the array created by the vertical.
The Horizontal ADCP Waves Array has advantages over the Vertical ADCP
Waves Array because of the large array size, increased number of sensors in
the array and high single ping precision.

1.2 SurfaceWaves Displays

SurfaceWaves offers two main displays, the Time Series view and the Di-
rectional Spectrum view. The View Selection buttons on the toolbar allow
you to quickly choose the views that you would like to see and remove the
ones that are not of interest. The views automatically resize to fill the space
available.

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 TELEDYNE
RD INSTRUM ENTS
A Teledyne Technologies Company Technical Note
FST-015 (November 2006)
Time Series
The Time Series view displays time series of significant wave height, peak
period, peak direction, and water depth. Data that is missing or bad is not
shown. To select a time in the series click the left mouse button over the
data of interest.
Directional Spectrum
The directional spectrum is plotted in units of meters/sqrt(Hz)/degree. The
data has been smoothed by a radial interpolation algorithm to give it 16
times as much resolution for the display. Further shading has been added to
enhance the 3D nature of the plotted data. The tabular direction displayed in
the upper right corner is the peak direction.

1.3 SurfaceView Displays

SurfaceView is Teledyne RD Instrument’s real-time data collection program
for WorkHorse Horizontal ADCPs (H-ADCPs).
Contour Window
The Color Contour Window is a visual representation of the overall history
of the data collected, along the axes of time and distance. The X-axis, or
left and right axis, represents the distance from the device the measurement
was made. The Y-axis, or up and down axis, represents the time at which
that reading was made from the H-ADCP device.

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300 kHz Narrow Beam Horizontal ADCP with Directional Wave Measurement Capability

Deployment Display
The Deployment Window shows the location and orientation of the instru-
ment as deployed on the platform or vessel. The vessel and instrument can
be viewed in two ways, Top View and Side View.
Mean Velocity Display
The Mean Velocity Window Displays the mean velocity for the selected
bins using the current configured time window. The value shown is always
the velocity magnitude.
Magnitude Peak Velocity Display
SurfaceView calculates a live peak velocity value based on time window
parameters for velocity magnitude, as well as each of the three raw data
beams (if raw beam data is available from the device). The accumulator
will select the peak reading from all selected bins and display the bin dis-
tance at which the reading was made.
Velocity Profile Window
The Velocity Profile Window is a graphical representation of the velocity
intensity along the instrument range. The X-axis is the distance from the
instrument, and the Y-axis denotes the velocity. Points are plotted in the
graph in real-time based on velocity readings made at each distance.
Three types of data may be viewed in the Velocity Profile Window.
• Velocity – Graph the X and Y components of velocity.
• Error Velocity – Graph the Error Velocity measured for both the
X and Y velocity components.
• Raw Beam Velocities – Graphs the raw velocity data captured by
each of the H-ADCP’s beams.
Intensity Profile Display
The Intensity Profile Window plots the relative intensity of each beam on
the H-ADCP device along the range from the device.
Peak Velocity Time Series Window
The Peak Velocity Time series display shows peak velocity versus time.
Tabular Velocity Magnitude Window
The Tabular Velocity Window allows the user to select three ranges to view
the average velocity magnitude and depth for that range. The ranges must
be entered in order of increasing distance from the sensor. The first row
represents the average velocity magnitude and depth from the instrument to
the first distance entered. The second row depicts the average velocity
magnitude and depth from the first to the second distance, and the third row

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 TELEDYNE
RD INSTRUM ENTS
A Teledyne Technologies Company Technical Note
FST-015 (November 2006)
depicts the average velocity magnitude and depth from the second to the
third distance.

2 Technical Specifications
Table 1: Wave Measurements
Parameter 300 kHz HADCP with 300 kHz HADCP 300 kHz HADCP
2m Range Cell with 4m Range Cell with 8m Range cell
Height
Significant Height 2 x deployment depth 2 x deployment depth 2 x deployment depth
Range
Max Wave Height 50m 50m 50m
Wave Height ±2 cm ±2 cm ±2 cm
Accuracy
Sampling Rate 2 Hz 2 Hz 2 Hz
Minimum Wave 20 cm 15 cm 10cm
Height*
Direction
Measurement 0 - 360º 0 - 360º 0 - 360º
Range
Accuracy Compass Accuracy ±2º Compass Accuracy ±2º Compass Accuracy ±2º
Sampling Rate 2 Hz 2 Hz 2 Hz
Period

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300 kHz Narrow Beam Horizontal ADCP with Directional Wave Measurement Capability

Spectral Peak 0.2 – 0.033 Hz* 0.2 – 0.033 Hz* 0.2 – 0.033 Hz*
Period
Accuracy < 2% of the value < 2% of the value < 2% of the value
Sampling Rate 2 Hz 2 Hz 2 Hz
*Note: The above specifications are based upon a deployment depth of 10m with analysis from 0.2 –
0.033 Hz. This can be improved if the ADCP is moved closer to the surface.

Table 2: Current Measurements

Parameter 300 kHz HADCP in 300 kHz HADCP in 4m 300 kHz HADCP in 8m
2m Hi Resolution Normal Resolution Long Range Mode
Mode Mode
Typical Max 200m 200m 200m
Profiling Range
Velocity Accuracy 0.5% of water 0.5% of water velocity 0.5% of water velocity
velocity relative to H- relative to H-ADCP relative to H-ADCP
ADCP ±0.5cm/sec ±0.5cm/sec ±0.5cm/sec
Velocity Precision 6.09 cm/sec 2.96 cm/sec 4.16 cm/sec
(Single Ping)
Velocity 0.1 cm/s 0.1 cm/s 0.1 cm/s
Resolution
Velocity Range ±5m/s (default); ±5m/s (default); ±10m/s ±5m/s (default); ±10m/s
±10m/s (maximum) (maximum) (maximum)
Sampling Rate 2 Hz 2 Hz 2 Hz
Depths: N/A – Measurement N/A – Measurement made N/A – Measurement made
made at depth of at depth of deployment. at depth of deployment.
deployment.

2.1 Depth Dependency

Maximum instrument depth depends on the wave frequency of interest (e.g.
5 second waves do not penetrate below 20 m)

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 TELEDYNE
RD INSTRUM ENTS
A Teledyne Technologies Company Technical Note
FST-015 (November 2006)

FST-015 (November 2006) page 7 of 8

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300 kHz Narrow Beam Horizontal ADCP with Directional Wave Measurement Capability

3 Installation Concerns
• Pitch and Roll should be as close to zero as possible. The range
from the surface e.g. should be between 4m to 10m
• Maximum instrument depth depends on the wave frequency of
interest (e.g. 5 second waves do not penetrate below 20 m)
• In a shallow application e.g. of a pier (depth only 10m) it is im-
portant install the system between the ½ of the depth. It is also
important for the processing software to know the slope of ter-
rain in from of the installation.
• Fixed installation is ideal. If deployed over the side on a wire
style system then motion should be kept to a minimum (e.g. no
more then 2 deg/10min).
• Biofouling precautions are needed.
• The instrument has to be set up to collect single ping at 2 Hz, so
the output baud rate has to be set to the highest possible and only
collect the bins that are needed for the processing.
• If the instrument is looking up to the surface with an angle, what
is the max angle (10 Deg), and do not use the bins below the sur-
face for the waves processing.

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