Impact of Acoustic Doppler Technology on Catchment Hydrology.

---

Daniel Wagenaar, Isaac Jones

Thursday 2 july 2015

12:15 - 12:30h at Central America (level 0)

Themes: (T) Water resources and hydro informatics (WRHI), (ST) Catchment hydrology

Parallel session: 11H. Water resources - Catchment

---

The application of Acoustic Doppler instruments has grown significantly over the past decade from where it was originally introduced to hydrographic operations for the measurement of runoff in natural catchments to flood management in urban catchments such as the SMART tunnel project where it is accepted today as the primary method for instantaneous and continuous velocity measurements by most organizations. The scope of Acoustic Doppler instruments have expanded form the initial requirement of velocity measurements to the collection of parameters for determining the total suspended sediment load, bathymetric mapping and the development of hydrological and hydraulic models. The application of Acoustic Doppler Velocity Meters in sediment research to date has demonstrated the capability of the SonTek SL Series in the continuous monitoring of both suspended sediment concentration and water velocity. Bathymetric surveys have become an increasing requirement for most catchment hydrology studies especially with the ability to combine data sets with Lidar or other digital elevation data products. SonTek has developed a bathymetric survey package (HydroSurveyor) that is based on the well-established RiverSurveyor platform. The combination of a bathymetric survey package with an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler has enabled the collection of associated datasets with the standard bathymetry survey information such as horizontal and vertical velocity profiles. The ability to perform bathymetric surveys in combination with water velocity measurements makes the HydroSurveyor an attractive and cost-effective solution for model development such as prediction of oil or chemical spills on coastal environment. The expansion of the Acoustic Doppler instrumentation applications within the different facets of catchment hydrology is showcased in this presentation and highlights the versatility of the technology and the capability of SonTek Acoustic Doppler instruments in flood management, sediment transport and bathymetric surveys for model development