The Development and Testing of Current Meters for Long Term Development on the Continental Shelf

Measurements of ocean currents to support U.S. continental shelf construction and environmental projects have been established as a major user need. Regimes of interest range from the surface to 300 meters and from concentrated, short-term measurements to sparse, long-term measurements of up to 3 years. The timeliness, reliability, and availability of the data are frequently more important to the user than absolute data accuracy. One of the more critical needs of the offshore industries is for measurements of current during design events, such as severe storms. Near-realtime data is also highly desirable during quieter periods to aid on-site construction and to permit timely environmental monitoring in coastal and estuary regions. The NOAA Data Buoy Office (NDBO) has initiated a development and test program to provide current measurement systems to meet these needs. NDBO´s objective is to develop this capability using existing state-of-the-art current sensors and data buoys. A parallel effort is also underway to develop an underwater acoustic data link for long-term at-sea testing and operation of the current sensors. This paper presents an overview of the NDBO current meter development and test program, including the implementation plan, significant features of the hardware design, and the results of testing conducted to date.