A new low-cost acoustic current meter design

A low cost acoustic current meter, called the 2D-ACM, was designed and implemented. The instrument provides two-dimensional current velocity readings, as well as sea temperature readings. The instrument can be expanded with a CTD to allow collecting conductivity, high accuracy temperature, and depth information. The 2D-ACM uses surface mount components almost exclusively. This reduces the overall size of the instrument: the 2D-ACM measures 12.1 cm in diameter, 57.4 cm in length, and weighs approximately 3.5 kg. Another result of this approach is that the instrument uses approximately 10 mA while it is taking data. This allows it to operate continuously for approximately 60 days. If the instrument is programmed to periodically take data and shut itself off while not taking data, it can operate for up to two years. Ocean deployment results presented in this paper show that the instrument reports water currents accurately