Intercomparison of an acoustic doppler current profiler with conventional instruments and a tidal flow model

An acoustic Doppler current profiler working at 1 MHz has been developed and deployed both as a bottom mounted and as a moored instrument. This paper outlines comparisons between the ADCP and conventional instruments and against a simple analytical model of tidal flow in homogeneous shallow water. It is shown that the ADCP can identify areas in which the model could be improved. The moored ADCP has shown the feasibility of current measurement close to the sea surface and through measurements of acoustic backscatter strength the required level of transducer sidelobes has been determined.