Measuring the Variance of the Vertical Orbital Velocity Component by an Acoustic Wave Gauge With a Single Transceiver Antenna

The capabilities of a new instrument for measuring the surface wave parameters are studied in detail. An acoustic wave gauge with a single antenna is designed to measure the backscatter intensity and the Doppler spectrum of the reflected acoustic signal and to retrieve the variance of the vertical orbital velocity component. The new instrument is numerically simulated, and field experiments using a prototype acoustic wave gauge are carried out. The comparison of the variances of the vertical orbital velocity component measured by acoustic and string wave gauges under field conditions, as well as the comparison of measurements and numerical simulation results, has confirmed the high accuracy of the retrieval algorithms. The advantage of the instrument is its capability of making measurements in any water basin without the use of a fixed platform.