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Thanks everybody…!
I’m just going to post a plea here that if ADCP operators can use GPS that they do…!
Being able to geolocate ADCP data will greatly increase its value beyond simply reporting discharge…!
Nick.
(I just found the bold/italic buttons!)
I think the time for a refresh of the large ARCboat has come, to be honest. It is a great boat, but could be improved/updated.
I have not had too much trouble with the belts, and they are designed to be a point of weakness to protect the motors (never quite understood why a pin in the prop couldn’t do the same mind you) but they do need maintenance.
Does anybody have experience of the more powerful T500 motors on an ARCboatlite? Not powerful enough for the larger boat I guess.
I’ll ask Adam at the EA if any plans are in development to review and renew the boat…
Thanks Dave
That’s great! I hadn’t realised this was created as an output!
So, if we can get all the users to use QRev and GPS and create these output files we’ll be rapidly building up a really valuable dataset!
The Copernicus In-Situ folk might even be happy – I’m usually in trouble for heading off at too much of a tangent….!
Have a nice weekend!
Nick.
Thanks Daniel and Travis!
A couple of questions:
Daniel:
- Is the LiDAR data open data?
- Do you think the available cross-sections could be dug out?
Travis:
- Do you know if the cross-section output is there in QRevINT as well as USGS QRev? As installation is areal hassle with out IT policy now I do not update QRevINT with every new release, so am running 1.18 at present. I see area and width is output in the xml, but no detailed cross section info.
- Do you know when the cross-section database might go live?
- And would that data be open to users outside of USGS (such as Copernicus)
Oh, finally, are there any initiatives to enforce the use of GPS for ADCP data collection? I totally get that Q will most often be calculated based upon BT data, but the added value of the transects if they can be geolocated is such that I’d be keen to see GPS used wherever it is available (I was trying to push for this at the EA around the time I moved on…!)
Thanks again!
I’d be very interested to see how you install these – how are they powered for example.
Does anyone have a schematic and/or parts list…?
In a group call earlier this week – including some authors here – we touched upon Sontek quality control which, to be brutally honest, has often fallen well short of what it ought to be. FlowTrackers were not mentioned, but are clearly not being built to the standard one should expect.
How can this group more effectively address these issues?
Here’s a summary of issues I am currently aware of:
- M9 comms – unreliable (even after all these years!)
- RS5 comms – poor range
- FT2 – the above issues
- SLs – high failure rates (the last I heard was a few years ago, as I am not close to this any more)
We use it alone, with no base station….
It is perhaps not good enough for river mapping applications, but is good enough for Q measurements and if you wanted to map a lake or reservoir…
So many UK rivers have sources of magnetic interference in the banks of or nearby that it is one of the best upgrades for UK ADCP users.
Hi Kristoffer
A lot of Vector GPS systems are in use in the UK with Sontek M9 ADCPs.
We mostly have the V102 (this is what I have), and it seems to work really well. The V102 is not super high precision, but is certainly good enough for routine discharge measurements.
It could be argued that you might want to calibrate your compass in case of issues with the GPS, but as long as the GPS signal is good enough (which it has always been for me in the UK), the need to calibrate compass is pretty much eliminated.
I believe the cable that enables the V102 to be added to M9 ADCPs was developed by Nick Martin at Xylem in the UK.
One thing to note: the battery consumption increases quite a lot.
I’m afraid I can’t advise if you want higher precision, but for us the V102 has been great!
I’d agree with all of your suggestions, Kristoffer!
I would also add –
- Consider designing a boat as a sensor platform for multiple applications, so that it is easier to fit and power multiple sensors (a pickup truck rather than a taxi)
- Develop an option to collect water samples
- Develop a winch to allow lake monitoring
- A waterproof RC controller would be good!
- Supply boats with a trolley
- Consider offering integrated heading GPS – a boat hull provides for a much longer baseline than say a V102 or similar, and avoids the awkward top-heaviness
- Develop an effective propulsion system that is unaffected by weed
- Offer long range comms options (that are easy to set up and reliable!)
- Add a sensor to detect surface flow speed (a challenge on a moving boat, but I guess bottom tracking or GPS could solve for boat speed
- LOWER COST (I have not been able to buy any boats since moving to UKCEH as we have not had the budget to do so!)
A very good question…..
I think Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC!) are doing some good work on this.
Can I tag @Francois Rainville to draw him to this discussion? (Not sure that functionality works here….?!)
Sorry Mike, no suggestions here, but I too would be keen to find a solution!
DJI now has a drone that can fly in the rain, so maybe things will change soon!
No experience with it.
Interested to know how you find working with a tablet – I never took keyboard off my CF20 to operate in tablet mode as I found F keys etc so useful…!
(Then again, I curse every car that ditches a physical control for something requiring 8 prods of a touchscreen….!)
‘….we are doing first tests with ADCP-mounted SVR in August….’
Excellent! I wonder if I can justify a trip to Sweden to observe!
Replying to add to the above (and to test out posting here!)
Also note that QRev has an option that allows you to set Extrap analysis to be discharge weighted. This means that each ensemble’s (sample) contribution to the extrapolation evaluation is weighted according to what proportion of the total Q is in that individual ensemble. This solves the problem where ensembles collected close to banks where water might be slow and shallow influence the extrapolation as much as those in the middle that usually contain many times as much flow.
It also largely eliminates the need to use the sub-sectioning method discussed above, certainly for regular discharge measurements.
Access this menu from QRev’s little cog icon, top left.
