TRIAXYS ™ Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Comparison Study

A field trial was conducted during the summer months of 2004, off the West Coast of Vancouver Island comparing ADCP measurements from a buoy-based platform and two bottom based installations in about 45m depth. The buoy-based instrument was a Nortek 600KHz Aquadopp™ Acoustic Current Profiler (ACP) downward looking unit, integrated into the hull of a 1m diameter TRIAXYS™ Directional Wave Buoy. The two bottom mounted units were a Nortek 600KHz ADCP and an RDI 300KHz ADCP™ . Post recovery data analysis compared both bin averaged depths (10-15m and 20-25m) with no tidal correction and a set of corrected bin alignments for tidal height effects from which direct comparison of data was completed. The TRIAXYS™ mounted ACP data agreed with the bottom mounted units typically to within 4-5 cm/s for velocity and to within 3-5 degrees for direction for depths down to 30m. For the trial period, maximum wave heights to 2.5m were measured, with no significant effect on ACP measurements.