Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory

An acoustic Doppler current profiler was installed on the south side of the Port Everglades Inlet to measure the velocity of the water flow at levels starting near the surface and reaching down to near the channel bottom. The system was built using a commercial, horizontal-looking ADCP deployed in a hybrid manner to measure the vertical velocity structure. This system was calibrated so that its velocity measurements could estimate the mean channel velocity at specific depth layers by repeatedly transecting a vessel-mounted, down-looking ADCP across the channel at the location of the fixed system. The channel cross-sectional area at the location of the fixed system was measured, and a pressure sensor on the fixed system allowed the cross section of the channel to be estimated at the time of each velocity measurement. From the area and mean channel velocity measurements, an estimate of the volume transport per unit of time (Q) in a surface and deep layer was made. By integrating the Q measurements over a tidal phase, measurements of total volume transport per tidal phase in the surface and bottom layers were made. These volume estimates will be used to estimate the total seaward flux of certain substances measured by the Florida International University group during the study. Using an independent data set, the dispersion of materials advected seaward from the inlet into the coastal ocean was estimated

Technical Report

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)