Evaluation of the Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) for Turbulence Measurements

Accuracy of the acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) is evaluated in this paper. Simultaneous measurements of open-channel flow were undertaken in a 17-m flume using an ADV and a laser Doppler velocimeter. Flow velocity records obtained by both instruments are used for estimating the true (‘‘ground truth’’) flow characteristics and the noise variances encountered during the experimental runs. The measured values are compared with estimates of the true flow characteristics and values of variance (^u92&, ^w92&) and covariance (^u9w9&) predicted by semiempirical models for open-channel flow. The analysis showed that the ADV sensor can measure mean velocity and Reynolds stress within 1% of the estimated true value. Mean velocities can be obtained at distances less than 1 cm from the boundary, whereas Reynolds stress values obtained at elevations greater than 3 cm above the bottom exhibit a variation that is in agreement with the predictions of the semiempirical models. Closer to the boundary, the measured Reynolds stresses deviate from those predicted by the model, probably due to the size of the ADV sample volume. Turbulence spectra computed using the ADV records agree with theoretical spectra after corrections are applied for the spatial averaging due to the size of the sample volume and a noise floor. The noise variance in ADV velocity records consists of two terms. One is related to the electronic circuitry of the sensor and its ability to resolve phase differences, whereas the second is flow related. The latter noise component dominates at rapid flows. The error in flow measurements due to the former noise term depends on sensor velocity range setting and ranges from 60.95 to 63.0 mm s21. Noise due to shear within the sample volume and to Doppler broadening is primarily a function of the turbulence dissipation parameter. Noise variances calculated using spectral analysis and the results of the ground truthing technique are compared with theoretical estimates of noise

The effect of wave breaking on surf-zone turbulence and alongshore currents : a modeling study

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 35 (2005): 2187–2203, doi:10.1175/JPO2800.1.The effect of breaking-wave-generated turbulence on the mean circulation, turbulence, and bottom stress in the surf zone is poorly understood. A one-dimensional vertical coupled turbulence (k–ε) and mean-flow model is developed that incorporates the effect of wave breaking with a time-dependent surface turbulence flux and uses existing (published) model closures. No model parameters are tuned to optimize model–data agreement. The model qualitatively reproduces the mean dissipation and production during the most energetic breaking-wave conditions in 4.5-m water depth off of a sandy beach and slightly underpredicts the mean alongshore current. By modeling a cross-shore transect case example from the Duck94 field experiment, the observed surf-zone dissipation depth scaling and the observed mean alongshore current (although slightly underpredicted) are generally reproduced. Wave breaking significantly reduces the modeled vertical shear, suggesting that surf-zone bottom stress cannot be estimated by fitting a logarithmic current profile to alongshore current observations. Model-inferred drag coefficients follow parameterizations (Manning–Strickler) that depend on the bed roughness and inversely on the water depth, although the inverse depth dependence is likely a proxy for some other effect such as wave breaking. Variations in the bed roughness and the percentage of breaking-wave energy entering the water column have a comparable effect on the mean alongshore current and drag coefficient. However, covarying the wave height, forcing, and dissipation and bed roughness separately results in an alongshore current (drag coefficient) only weakly (strongly) dependent on the bed roughness because of the competing effects of increased turbulence, wave forcing, and orbital wave velocities.This work was funded by NSF, ONR, and NOPP

Near field performance of staged diffusers in shallow water

This work was performed by John H. Trowbridge as part of his masters thesis in the M.I.T. Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1979.Submerged diffusers are commonly used to dilute condenser cooling water from coastal power plants. A staged diffuser, in which the diffuser centerline is perpendicular to shore and the nozzles are direc- ted essentially offshore, is often used at sites where there is a long- shore, reversing current. Because of the symmetry of this design, dilution is improved by a longshore current in either direction, and the diffuser's position perpendicular to shore allows it to intercept a crossflow effectively. The performance of a staged diffuser in shallow water of constant depth has been analysed previously by treating the diffuser as a continuously distributed line source of momentum (Almquist and Stolzen- bach, 1976). This theory has been reviewed and extended to consider the case of a sloping bottom and to compute the external (entrainment) flow field set up by the diffuser. In these analyses the important parameters are the gross diffuser dimensions, including total flow rate, discharge velocity, water depth and diffuser length. Length scales are on the order of one diffuser length, and the characteristics of the individual jets are assumed to be insignificant in describing diffuser performance at this level. A more detailed analysis of staged diffuser performance in the near field is useful if one wishes to describe the temperatures and shear stresses experienced by organisms that are entrained into the diffuser plume. Length scales in this problem are on the order of the port spacing, and characteristics of the individual jets are very important at this level. Relevant diffuser dimensions are discharge velocity, port diameter D , port spacing, port elevation h, water depth H, and discharge orientation. A description of the near field at this level has been obtained by solving for the trajectories, velocities, temperatures and flow rates of individual jets. Boundary layer approximations are made similar to those used in the classical analysis of free turbulent jets, and the analysis includes the effects of shallow water, the flowfield set up by adjacent jets, and an ambient current. Theoretical predictions are compared with the results of an experimental program. The analysis is then used to evaluate different diffuser designs from the stand- point of temperature and shear stress exposure of entrained organisms

Coupled dynamics of interfacial waves and bed forms in fluid muds over erodible seabeds in oscillatory flows

© The Author(s), 2015. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 120 (2015): 5698–5709, doi:10.1002/2015JC010872.Recent field investigations of the damping of ocean surface waves over fluid muds have revealed waves on the interface between the thin layer of fluid mud and the overlying much thicker column of clear water, accompanied by bed forms on the erodible seabed beneath the fluid mud. The frequencies and wavelengths of the observed interfacial waves are qualitatively consistent with the linear dispersion relationship for long interfacial waves, but the forcing mechanism is not known. To understand the forcing, a linear model is proposed, based on the layer-averaged hydrostatic equations for the fluid mud, together with the Meyer-Peter-Mueller equation for the sediment transport within the underlying seabed, both subject to oscillatory forcing by the surface waves. If the underlying seabed is nonerodible and flat, the model indicates parametric instability to interfacial waves, but the threshold for instability is not met by the observations. If the underlying seabed is erodible, the model indicates that perturbations to the seabed elevation in the presence of the oscillatory forcing create interfacial waves, which in turn produce stresses within the fluid mud that force a net transport of sediment within the seabed toward the bed form crests, thus causing growth of both bed forms and interfacial waves. The frequencies, wavelengths, and growth rates are in qualitative agreement with the observations. A competition between mixing created by the interfacial waves and gravitational settling might control the thickness, density, and viscosity of the fluid muds during periods of strong forcing.This study was supported by the Coastal Geodynamics Program at the Office of Naval Research and by the Physical Oceanography Program at the National Science Foundation

Turbulence in the coastal environment during HYCODE

A tall tripod equipped with two acoustic Doppler velocimeters (ADVs) was deployed at a water depth of 15 m off the coast of New Jersey near the LEO-15 site. Sensors were co-located near the bottom to provide good estimates of Reynolds stress. Thermistors were located within several centimeters of the velocity sample volume to provide simultaneously sampled estimates of turbulent temperature variance and vertical temperature flux. One of the ADVs was equipped with a pressure and a temperature sensor. A wave/tide gauge was placed at 4 meters above bottom. The instruments were deployed late July through early December of 2000 and late June through early August of 2001. For the 2001 deployment, a single beam acoustic Doppler velocity sensor (DopBeam) was added to measure high frequency vertical velocity variance and echo intensity within the bottom boundary layer. A second tripod was deployed nearby and was equipped with an array of LISST sensors and an MSCAT. The purpose of this report is to document the instrumentation and deployment of the tripods and to document the tall tripod data by providing a description of the processing and data formats, time-series summaries of the burst averaged data along with preliminary analyses.Funding was provided by the Office of Naval Research under Contract No. N00014-99-1-0213

Macroalgae and Eelgrass Mapping in Great Bay Estuary Using AISA Hyperspectral Imagery.

Results Increases in nitrogen concentration and declining eelgrass beds in Great Bay Estuary have been observed in the last decades. These two parameters are clear indicators of the impending eutrophication for New Hampshire’s estuaries. The NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) in collaboration with the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership adopted the assumption that eelgrass survival can be used as the target for establishing numeric water quality criteria for nutrients in NH’s estuaries. One of the hypotheses put forward regarding eelgrass decline is that an eutrophication response to nutrient increases in the Great Bay Estuary has been the proliferation of nuisance macroalgae, which has reduced eelgrass area in Great Bay Estuary. To determine the extent of this effect, mapping of eelgrass and nuisance macroalgae beds using hyperspectral imagery was suggested. A hyperspectral image was made by SpecTIR in August 2007 using an AISA Eagle sensor. The collected dataset was then used to map eelgrass and nuisance macroalgae throughout the Great Bay Estuary. Here we outline the procedure for mapping the macroalgae and eelgrass beds. Hyperspectral imagery was effective where known spectral signatures could be easily identified. Comprehensive eelgrass and macroalgae maps of the estuary could only be produced by combining hyperspectral imagery with ground-truth information and expert opinion. Macroalgae was predominantly located in areas where eelgrass formerly existed. Macroalgae mats have now replaced nearly 9% of the area formerly occupied by eelgrass in Great Bay

Combustion Products Monitor: Trade Study Testing

Current combustion products monitoring on the International Space Station (ISS) uses a handheld device (Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion Products, CSA-CP) containing electrochemical sensors used to measure the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and oxygen (O2). The CO sensor in this device accounts for a well-known cross-sensitivity with hydrogen (H2), which is important, as ISS air can contain up to 100 ppm H2. Unfortunately, this current device is being discontinued, and due to space constraints, the new model cannot accommodate the size of the current CO sensor. Therefore, a trade study was conducted in order to determine which CO sensors on the market were available with compensation for H2, and which instruments used these sensors, while also measuring HCN, O2, and carbon dioxide (CO2). The addition of CO2 to the device is helpful, as current monitoring of this gas requires a second hand-held monitor. By providing a device that will monitor both combustion products and CO2, volume and up-mass can be reduced as these monitors are delivered to ISS

Mechanisms of surface wave energy dissipation over a high-concentration sediment suspension

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 120 (2015): 1638–1681, doi:10.1002/2014JC010245.Field observations from the spring of 2008 on the Louisiana shelf were used to elucidate the mechanisms of wave energy dissipation over a muddy seafloor. After a period of high discharge from the Atchafalaya River, acoustic measurements showed the presence of 20 cm thick mobile fluid-mud layers during and after wave events. While total wave energy dissipation (D) was greatest during the high energy periods, these periods had relatively low normalized attenuation rates (κ = Dissipation/Energy Flux). During declining wave-energy conditions, as the fluid-mud layer settled, the attenuation process became more efficient with high κ and low D. The transition from high D and low κ to high κ and low D was caused by a transition from turbulent to laminar flow in the fluid-mud layer as measured by a Pulse-coherent Doppler profiler. Measurements of the oscillatory boundary layer velocity profile in the fluid-mud layer during laminar flow reveal a very thick wave boundary layer with curvature filling the entire fluid-mud layer, suggesting a kinematic viscosity 2–3 orders of magnitude greater than that of clear water. This high viscosity is also consistent with a high wave-attenuation rates measured by across-shelf energy flux differences. The transition to turbulence was forced by instabilities on the lutocline, with wavelengths consistent with the dispersion relation for this two-layer system. The measurements also provide new insight into the dynamics of wave-supported turbidity flows during the transition from a laminar to turbulent fluid-mud layer.This work was supported by Office of Naval Research Award N00014-06-1–0718, which was part of the ONR Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MUD-MURI): entitled ‘‘Mechanisms of Fluid-Mud Interactions Under Waves.’’ Additional support was provided by National Science Foundation grant 1059914.2015-09-1

Controls on Floc Size in a Continental Shelf Bottom Boundary Layer

Simultaneous in situ observations of floc size, waves, and currents in a continental shelf bottom boundary layer do not support generally accepted functional relationships between turbulence and floc size in the sea. In September and October 1996 and January 1997, two tripods were deployed in 70 m of water on the continental shelf south of Woods Hole, Massachusetts. On one a camera photographed particles in suspension 1.2 m above the bottom that had equivalent circular diameters larger than 250 um, and on the other, three horizontally displaced acoustic current meters measured flow velocity 0.35 m above the bottom. The tripods were separated by ~ 150 m. Typically, maximal floc diameter stayed relatively constant, around 1 mm, and it showed a dependence on turbulence parameters that was significantly weaker than that predicted by any model that assumes that turbulence-induced stresses limit floc size. Occasionally, when waves and currents generated intense near-bed turbulence, flocs were destroyed. These precipitous decreases in maximal floc size also were not predicted by conventional models. The correlation in time between episodes of floc destruction and elevated combined wave current stresses provides the first quantitative support for the hypothesis that floc size throughout bottom boundary layers can be controlled by breakup in the intensely sheared near-bed region. These observations demand a reassessment of the forces limiting floc size in the sea, and they indicate the potential for significant simplifying assumptions in models of floc dynamics