ADCP Application for the Measurement of Ocean Currents in Burriana Port

1. Situation of Burriana Port

The Burriana Port is located on the east coast of Spain and more precisely in the province of Castellón. This port, while smaller compared to most of the leading international ports, is quite important and in the first line of all local and regional maritime affairs.

Scale of Port and Throughput

This is a port of limited scale. It is intended to handle vessels from small-to-medium-sized cargo ships, fishing boats, and yachts. Annual throughput concerns, for the most part, local products such as agricultural products from the environs and some light industrial products. The port facilities are designed to handle a certain number of vessels at any one time, having a length of quay which enables efficient berthing operations.

Routes and Business

Burriana Port has established routes of communication, linking it with other coastal cities in the area and some of the major ports in the Mediterranean. It is a home port for local fishermen, which provides them with fresh seafood to land and distribute in the area. It supports cargo transport in the importation and exportation of goods necessary for the local economy: construction materials, consumer goods, and agricultural supplies.

Port Management and Operations

The port is managed by a local port authority, responsible for smooth operations of all activities around the port. This encompasses maintenance of the port infrastructure, vessel traffic, and providing services to vessels. Besides this, the management coordinates with various stakeholders, such as shipping companies, associations of fishermen, and businesses in the locality, for proper usage of the port and for economic development in general.

Port Facilities

The facilities in the port are simple but key. These include mooring equipment and berths to secure the vessels, machinery for loading and unloading cargo, bulk and containerized goods storage facilities, and repair facilities for ships; although small in scale as compared to the large-scale shipyards. Added to these there are fueling stations for the supply of fuel to the vessels.

Channels and Direct Navigation

The approaches to Burriana Port are carefully buoyed to make navigation safe. Depths are frequently sounded in the channels to accommodate most draft vessels, depending on the water level. Navigational aids like buoys and lighthouses can be found along the channels, guiding the ships through both day and night. The navigation from the open sea into the port is not particularly cumbersome, since it faces the coast; vessels must, however, still keep to the shipping lanes and traffic regulations.

2. Why measure the ocean currents in the Burriana Port?

Ocean current measurement in Burriana Port is quite necessary for several reasons.

Navigation Safety

The precise knowledge of ocean currents plays an important role in the navigation of ships. Currents can have a great influence on the vessel's speed and direction, depending on its maneuverability. In a port like that of Burriana, serving vessels of very different natures, knowledge of such currents helps optimize entry and exit routes. For example, during incoming or outgoing flows, ships may need to increase or decrease the speed and even change course to avoid contact with other boats or port infrastructures. This becomes all the more vital during the peak hours of traffic in the port.

Optimization of Port Operations

Present information is rather critical for conducting port operations relating to berthing and unberthing of ships. The approach of the ship to the berth must be well coordinated with the direction and strength of the current. In case proper accounting of the current is not done, then it would create problems in aligning the ship to the berth and result in delays in the operations. Further, the stability of a ship while in operations of loading or unloading could also be affected by currents. These operations will have to be optimally scheduled according to port operators through measurements that assure maximum efficiency.

Environmental Protection

If potential pollution, including oil or chemicals, happens in the water, knowledge about the ocean current comes into vital use. Currents decide the way and speed toward which the spread will be taken up by the pollutants. Real-time current data will enable port authorities to predict the path of the pollutants likely to result from an accident in real time and to take appropriate preventative and clean-up measures. This helps in protecting the local marine ecosystem, which becomes significant for the fishing industry and overall ecological balance in the area.

The ADCP current meter has recently become one of the most advanced and convenient methods for measuring ocean currents in Burriana Port. It allows the measurement of currents at several depths simultaneously, giving a much better overview of the current structure in the port area than traditional measurement techniques operating on single-point measurements.

3. How do ADCPs using the Doppler principle work?

ADCP Measurement Principle

The main principle of ADCPs is based on the Doppler principle. An ADCP current profiler sends out acoustic signals into the water column. These are scattered by small particles in the water, such as plankton, sediment, or bubbles. If these particles are moving because of the water current, the frequency of the scattered acoustic signal as received by the ADCP is different from the frequency of the emitted signal. This frequency shift, or Doppler shift, is directly proportional to the velocity of the particles and hence the water current. By measuring this Doppler shift, the ADCP profiler calculates the speed and direction of the water current at different depths.

ADCP in Port Current Measurement-Specific Methods

• Ship-borne ADCP: In this, the ADCP flow meter is mounted on a ship in motion. The ship moves around in the port area and, simultaneously, the ADCP keeps on recording the current. This can cover a large area of the port quickly and may give a broad-scale view of the current patterns. The ship's motion has to be carefully accounted for during data processing so the water current velocities are determined accurately.
• Fixed ADCP: A fixed ADCP is installed in a certain place in the port, on a pier, or on a submerged platform. This installation will give continuous and long-term monitoring of the current at that particular point. It is useful for studying the long-term trends and variations in the current, as well as providing real-time data for immediate port operations in the vicinity of the installation.

4. What's needed for high-quality measurement of Burriana Port currents?

Equipment Reliability

Reliability of the ADCP meter equipment has to be high to provide high-quality measurement of currents in Burriana Port. Very important are materials used for its construction. The casing of the ADCP should be made from a material which will resist the harsh marine environment, such as being in salt water, temperature fluctuations, and mechanical stress.

Size, Weight, and Power Consumption

The ADCP should not be so big in size as to be installed with ease at all mounting locations in a port, whether on a vessel or a platform. A lightweight design helps, more so on ship-borne applications, with the least effect on ship stability. Additionally, low power consumption is desired, especially for fixed-mounted ADCPs which may depend on battery or solar - powered systems for long - term operation.

Cost-effectiveness

The ADCP should be low-cost to enable the measurement of currents in the port on a large scale. This way, several units can be deployed in various regions of the port to give an extensive understanding of the current patterns.

Titanium Alloy for ADCP Casing

The casing of the ADCP is preferably made of titanium alloy.

Titanium alloy has several advantages. Being resistant to corrosion in seawater environments, titanium alloy protects long-term durability for an ADCP operating there. It also remains relatively light while doing so, even more so when compared to stainless steel and the like. Again, the alloy showed a good trend of mechanical property for withstanding the pressure or mechanical forces applied in the sea when currents are in the port. 5. Selection of Equipment Depending on the Usage

• Ship-borne ADCP: It can be used to obtain a broad-scale view of the current patterns in the port. It should be used initially or for the quick assessment of the current conditions over a large area.
• Bottom-moored ADCP: This is suitable for long-term fixed-point monitoring of currents. With this, it is possible to obtain continuous data over a long period, which will help when studying the long-term trends in the port's current condition.
• Buoy-mounted ADCP: Buoy-mounted ADCPs are helpful when it is not possible to install fixed-point or ship-borne systems due to various reasons. These can be installed in areas where the water flow is too high to handle or in open-water regions away from the port.

Based on Frequency

• A 600kHz ADCP is able to work for water depth up to 70m. For the relatively shallow water depth in the channel and berthing area of Burriana Port, this frequency can be used to make detailed measurements in these regions.
• A 300kHz ADCP would suit about 110m. It would be used where water is little deeper inside the port or even at the approaches to the port.
• A 75kHz ADCP is for far deeper waters, up to 1000m. While the Burriana Port may not present such a depth of waters, in some instances if the port connects to deeper channels or in the case when currents in adjacent offshore areas must be measured, this frequency could be considered as well.
• There are some well-known brands in the market, such as Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek.

However, for cost-effective and high-quality options, one may want to consider the Chinese brand China Sonar PandaADCP. It is made of all-titanium alloy, thus ensuring very good durability in the marine environment. It provides a fantastic solution for the current measurement in Burriana Port with its extraordinary cost-performance ratio. More information is available on the website: (https://china-sonar.com/).

Here is a table with some well known ADCP instrument brands and models.