A technical description of an acoustic Doppler based upper ocean profiling system

Abstract

An acoustic Doppler profiler has been designed into a multi-sensor Acoustic Profiler of Ocean Currents system (APOC). All four major components of this data collecting ensemble are microprocessor based units, allowing programmatic flexibility. Various water column, meteorological, and navigation data are recorded in a raw and/or processed form. Plots and listings of processed data are generated and displayed in real-time for use by investigators. Once installed, the system requires only a periodic change of cartridge recording media. The equipment has collected data during five cruises, for a total of approximately 190 days at sea. A hardware and software description of the system is presented. Preliminary technical results are discussed and evaluated.