APPLICATION: ADCPs for PORT systems
Woods Hole Group has installed PORTS (Physical
Oceanography Real-Time System) for monitoring currents in the approaches to the main
shipping channel at Long Beach Harbor, California. An Acoustic
Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP™) is installed on a bottom platform located 1km
west of the entrance to the harbor breakwater. The ADCP™ sends data by armored cable
to a Woods Hole Group Remote System Manager located on a breakwater. The data are
forwarded to a Base System display PC in the pilots' office on shore by spread-spectrum
radio telemetry. The display PC contains software that manages reception of the data from
the ADCP™ and local wind sensors. A typical display shows the most recent current
vectors at several depths and a current profile, as well as recent time history.
Woods Hole Group has been active in the implementation
of NOAA approved PORTS systems over recent years. The company recognizes that, as harbor
entry channels are dredged to allow deeper draft vessels to enter, wave and current
conditions at the entry of the port become an increasing hazard to safe navigation.
Localized information about the currents and wind conditions within a port enable safe
maneuvering of the port traffic.
Similar PORTS systems have been installed in Tampa Bay,
Houston, Galveston, San Francisco, and New York. Sites are planned for installation in
Rhode Island, and the Chesapeake Bay.
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