ADV for wave directional data?

Hi,

We use a Nortek Vector, as an ancillary instrument to our PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) system to measure turbulence in the coastal ocean bottom boundary layer.

We are planning for our next deployment and I wanted to be able to get information about the dominant wave direction while not compromising on the turbulence data that the ADV gives.   On previous deployments, the Vector was operated at 16 Hz and the output is a .vec file. What would the optimal operating parameters for the ADV be, and how can I use Quickwave or some other open source codes to analyze the wave data?

Thanks,
ARN

Hello ARN,

I am sorry to say that Quickwave does not support the vectrino for making wave measurements.  Quickwave uses the PUV method to measure waves from a point measuring current meter.  The PUV method use Pressure and the horizontal components (U and V) of orbital velocity.  The Vectrino does not have a pressure sensor, therefore Quickwave can not assist you in this effort.

kind regards,

Torstein

Hi Torstein,

We use a Vector (and not a Vectrino), and that has a pressure sensor on it. Could I use the Quickwave with Vector, and if so what should be my operating parameters/ output file?

Thanks,
ARN

Hi ARN,

The Quickwave can very well process Vector files. Please have a look at the attached text-file. This is a cut-out from Quickwave's help text which I think it quite good.

Please tell us if there are unanswered questions after reading this.

Best regards

Jonas Røstad

Dear Jonas,

Sorry for the late response. Thanks a lot for the information, that is indeed useful! I do thankfully have a burst data from a previous deployment with which to test the QW software. I was however curious as to why QW does not have an option wherein we can input a continuous mode dataset, and it automatically truncates it to 2048 points after downsampling to 2 Hz? (Our continuous runs are usually one hour long, at 16 Hz, to study turbulence.) Am I missing something here, or is it just the way the software functions?

My concern is how do I get some wave information out of say, a continuous dataset run for an hour at 16Hz?  Does Nortek have any other software that can do so, or do I need to resort to using a Matlab toolbox, such as the DiWaSp?  Sorry for the repeated questions, and thanks again for helping out!

ARN

Dear ARN,

What you are suggesting could be possible, but is a limitation in the software. 

We don't have any software doing this available - I think Matlab will be your way out of this.

Best regards

Jonas Røstad

Thanks Jonas!

I will be in touch if I have any further questions.

Regards,

Aditya