ascii output format for Aquadopp Profiler firmware version 1.17

Dear all,

Trying to use ASCII output from an Aquadopp Profiler, I have noticed some inconsistences between the bibliography (System Integrator's Guide, June 2008, page 48) and the actual Aquadopp Profiler output (in the attached document), which looks like this after sending any of the commands SA, MA or RA when configured for 2 cells:

 7 6 2010 16 19 38 0 224 15.7 1539.3 246.1 20.7 -18.7 0.000 27.10 0 0

  1   2548 2998

  2   2652 2910

 7 6 2010 16 19 43 0 224 15.7 1539.3 246.1 20.7 -18.7 0.000 27.10 0 0

  1   3633 2754

  2   2203 2706

 7 6 2010 16 19 48 0 224 15.7 1539.3 246.0 20.7 -18.7 0.000 27.10 0 0

  1   2349 2916

  2   3954 2760

Does anyone knows what is what here? How can I work out ENU velocity component from that?

I attach full test log for your reference.

Thank you very much in advance

Fran

Dear Fran,

Our apologies for the inconsistencies in the documentation. The ASCII format for the Aquadopp Profiler first outputs one line with sensor data that corresponds to what you find in the .sen file when you convert from binary to ASCII with our software. So the first line is formatted like this:

 1   Month                           (1-12)
 2   Day                              (1-31)
 3   Year
 4   Hour                            (0-23)
 5   Minute                         (0-59)
 6   Second                       (0-59)
 7   Error code
 8   Status code
 9   Battery voltage          (V)
10   Soundspeed           (m/s)
11   Heading                   (degrees)
12   Pitch                          (degrees)
13   Roll                           (degrees)
14   Pressure                 (dbar)
15   Temperature          (degrees C)
16   Analog input 1
17   Analog input 2

The two next lines should be correct according to page 48 in your version of the manual, i.e. cell no. followed by speed and direction.

Best regards,

Sven Nylund

And speed is given in mm/s whereas direction is output in tenths of a degree, the first cell in you data, 1   2548 2998, then corresponds to a speed of 2.548 m/s with a direction of 299.8 degrees.

Sven

Good morning, Sven, thank you very much for you answer but I still need a little more light:

Can you confirm whether  "speed" means the projection of the velocity over the plane EN (or XY if XYZ-coordinate system selected) ?
If so, I guess I can't use ascii output for a full 3D characterization of the velocity profile.

Is it planned to output this third component in a new firmware version? Please keep us informed on this, that would ease the job to integrators very much. Mainly, when using acquisition systems with programming languages different from C.

Hi Fran,

Yes, "speed" means the projection of the velocity in the horizontal plane (EN or XY like you wrote). So for the Aquadopp Profiler the current ASCII format will not give you a full 3D characterization of the velocity profile. The format is also limited in the sense that you do not get the amplitude values either, so for the Aquadopp Profiler you should use the binary format instead.

There are no immediate plans to change the format, but if we do add an improved ASCII format we will post this on the forum.

Best regards,

Sven Nylund