BSI 19/30342001 DC:2019 Edition

This Standard deals with the use of boat-mounted acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) for determining flow in open channels. It describes a number of methods of deploying ADCPs to determine flow. Although, in some cases, these measurements are intended to determine the stage-discharge relationship of a gauging station, this Standard deals only with single determination of discharge.

The term ADCP has been adopted as a generic term for a technology that is manufactured by various companies worldwide. They are also called acoustic Doppler velocity profilers (ADVPs) or acoustic Doppler profilers (ADPs). ADCPs can be used to measure a variety of parameters, such as current or stream flow, water velocity fields, and channel bathymetry. As a potential application, an idea of bedload discharge can be obtained applying the bottom track velocity, while suspended sediment flow can be obtained applying the acoustic backscatter and the sonar equation. This Standard is generic in form and contains no operational details specific to particular ADCP makes and models. Accordingly, to use this document effectively, it is essential that users are familiar with the terminology and functions of their own ADCP equipment. Users should also be familiar with additional requirements particular to their own country or agency.

Most of time the discharge value measured with an ADCP consist in averaging two or more pairs of transects depending on the river width and the expected uncertainty. The result of an ADCP gauging consists of a discharge value with the associated uncertainty.