The assessment of an acoustic Doppler velocimetry profiler from a user’s perspective

Liu, D., Alobaidi, K. and Valyrakis, M. (2022) The assessment of an acoustic Doppler velocimetry profiler from a user’s perspective. Acta Geophysica, 70(5), pp. 2297-2310. (doi: 10.1007/s11600-022-00896-3)

Abstract

Acoustic Doppler velocimetry profilers (ADVPs) are widely used in both experimental and field studies because of their robustness in velocity measurements. The acquired measurements do not only offer estimates of the local and instantaneous flow velocity at the interrogated measurement volume, but can also be further processed for the estimation of the bed surface shear stresses, thus they are finding a wide range of applications ranging from water engineering to geomorphology and eco-hydraulics. This study aims to evaluate the performance of an ADVP in obtaining hydrodynamics measurements under fixed flow conditions, with various probe configurations. To this goal, a robust search is conducted where ADVP probe settings are sequentially altered. A number of assessment criteria are used including qualitative observations, such as checking the shape of the velocity profile, as well as quantitative error metrics, including signal-to-noise ratio, correlations and number of spikes. Further, estimation of the bed shear stresses computed by means of using the log Law of the Wall and turbulent kinetic energy, allow obtaining a better understanding of the uncertainties involved and the importance of making a better informed choice with respect to the probe configuration settings. Thus, the methodology and performance metrics provided herein, although presented for a given flow, can generally be applied from practitioners and researchers alike.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: This research has been supported by the Royal Society (Research Grant RG2015 R1 68793/1), the Royal Society of Edinburg (Crucible Award), and the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (project 7066215).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Valyrakis, Dr Manousos and Liu, Da
• Authors: Liu, D., Alobaidi, K., and Valyrakis, M.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering; College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Infrastructure and Environment
• Journal Name: Acta Geophysica
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 1895-6572
• ISSN (Online): 1895-7455
• Published Online: 31 August 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Acta Geophysica 70(5): 2297-2310
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License