ADCP Applied to Ocean Current Measurement in Ngqura Port

1.Where is Ngqura port

Ngqura is located in South Africa, which is a large and busy port. Its scale refers to the size of the area that encompasses facilities built for different types of cargo and vessels.

Through the years, the port has continuously increased its throughput to carry various cargoes: containers, bulk cargo, and project cargo. It plays a very significant role in facilitating regional and international trade.

Shipping lanes interlink the Ngqura port in route and business with most major ports across the world. It acts as a crucial hub for imports and exports in the region by allowing the flow of goods to and from different continents.

Professional teams manage the port management and operation; the same teams ensure that daily activities run smoothly within the facility. There are strict regulations and procedures in handling vessel arrivals, cargo handling, and storage.

The port facilities are efficiently equipped with modern cranes, storage areas, and berths to accommodate various sizes of ships. Besides, it carries out regular channel maintenance, which enables safe navigation for the vessels' arrival and departure. Furthermore, some direct shipping lanes have already been established with key trading partners, boosting its efficiency and competitiveness within the global shipping market even more.

2. Why should we measure ocean currents in the Ngqura port?

The ocean currents in Ngqura port are very important for the port operation and management in general. First, accurate knowledge of ocean currents allows for better navigation of vessels. Understanding the flow patterns and velocities of the currents will thus help ships in routing more accurately to save fuel and voyage time, something quite vital for big container ships and bulk carriers that often operate within tight schedules.

Secondly, it is very important for safety considerations in port operations. Strong or unpredictable currents can be hazardous for vessels during the berthing and unberthing processes. With proper current measurement data, a port authority can issue appropriate warnings and take necessary safety measures to avoid accidents.

Moreover, for the management of port infrastructure, understanding the impact of ocean currents on structures like piers and breakwaters is essential. It helps in assessing potential erosion and designing appropriate maintenance and reinforcement strategies.

However, the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler(ADCP) could represent the more advanced and efficient technology than the traditional measurement methods due to real-time and continuous recording from shallow to very great ocean currents in order to have an idea of the perfect situation by the port operators.

3. How Do the Doppler Principle Work of ADCPs?

The working of ADCPs is based on the principle of Doppler. They send acoustic signals into the water column. These acoustic waves, interacting with moving particles in the water-like suspended sediment or plankton that are carried by the ocean currents-the frequency of the reflected waves is shifted by the Doppler effect. It basically works on the principle of analyzing the difference between emitted and received frequencies to calculate the velocity of moving particles, hence the ocean current.

For ocean current measurement in the port of Ngqura, there are mainly two common ways of using ADCP. One is the shipborne ADCP. In this case, the ADCP is installed on a ship. While the ship is moving around in the port area, the ADCP continuously measures the ocean currents at different locations along its path. This allows for a wide area survey of the currents in the port waters.

The other is the fixed ADCP. It is fixed at a certain position in the port, like on a pier or an underwater fixed structure. A fixed ADCP may deliver long-term and uninterrupted measurements of ocean currents at this location, which may provide the needed understanding of the stability and patterns of the current in such a port.

4. What is needed to have high-quality measurements of Ngqura port currents?

Various equipment factors are important for high-quality measurement of the currents in Ngqura port. First, material reliability is crucial for the equipment. It should be able to stand harsh marine conditions such as seawater corrosion, high pressures at different depths, and impacts from floating objects.

The second is small in size, light in weight, and low power consumption. Smaller in size and lighter in weight, the equipment is easy to install and operate whether on a ship or at a fixed location. Besides, low power consumption ensures that the equipment can work continuously over a long period of time without frequent changes of batteries or large power supplies, which is useful for long-term monitoring.

Furthermore, the price should be as inexpensive as possible to enable large-scale measurement. Among the outstanding materials that can be used for ADCP casing is a titanium alloy. A titanium alloy has many magnificent benefits when employed. It is very potent; hence, it may withstand the mechanical tension within the sea. Moreover, it exhibits very strong resistance to rust; hence, it is fit for use in seawater for several years due to its minimal corrosive capacity. Besides, the relatively small density provides the sufficiently small weight of the equipment without its breakdowns.

5. The Choice of the Right Equipment for the Measurement of Current

Selection of appropriate equipment for current measurement in Ngqura port would mainly depend on the usage scenarios. In case it is to be used for mobile measurements on ships, then the shipborne ADCP will be suitable. It can cover a large area of the port waters because the ship would navigate around.

Bottom-mounted ADCP is suitable for long-term fixed-point monitoring of some fixed location in the port and can record the current data at that position continuously. If the intention is to measure currents in a relatively wide area while floating on the water surface, the buoy-mounted ADCP can be considered.

Different ADCP frequencies would be applied to different water depth. For instance, the 600kHz ADCP is proper to operate in waters with less than 70 meters deep, while 300kHz for below 110 meters water and 75kHz works even better in a much deeper place-to 1000 meters long.

Famous brands of ADCPs available in the market include Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, there is also an excellent Chinese brand: the ADCP-China Sonar PandaADCP. The material it was made of is all-titanium alloy, super strong with great performance. Moreover, the price/performance ratio is amazingly good. You can learn about it on their website: https://china-sonar.com/.

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