ADCP in Porto Inglês Port's Ocean Current Measurement

1. Location and Introduction of Porto Inglês Port

Porto Inglês is a port facility in Cape Verde. This facility is somewhat relevant in the local and regional context of trade and transport.

Scale of the Port and Throughput

Scale: This is a medium-sized facility with an adequate number of berthing facilities that can handle medium-sized cargo ships, fishing vessels, and even some tourist vessels. The quay area is spacious enough for proper loading and unloading activities. Storage facilities of considerable size are also available to handle the inflow and outflow of cargo.

Throughput: It is highly varied annually. Most of this is comprised of fishing products, due to the fact that fishing is a major concern in the area. Major imports include consumer goods, construction materials, and fuel. Tourism-related traffic, like cruise liners or other tourist vessels arriving and departing, also adds to the throughput of the port.

Routes and Business

Routes: Porto Inglês Port is part of an axe of shipping routes: it has connections with other Cape Verdian ports but also enjoys links with international ports, mainly West African and European. These shipment routes are very important for the import-export activities of the region and transportation of tourists.

Business: The main business activities in the port are unloading and processing fish catches in connection with fisheries. In addition, other cargo handling services include general cargo and fuel. It supports the tourist industry through docking facilities for tourist vessels.

Management and Operation of the Port

The port is managed by a system responsible for controlling the movement of ships both in and out of the facility, ships' allocation to berths, and cargo activities. Management is concerned with the safety and security of the port and of the operations. This involves measures put in place for safety that protect ships, cargo, and personnel. Protection of the environment is also observed to reduce the impact of port activities on the local marine environment.

Others include procedures on handling emergencies like fire and bad weather. The port would also have security checks that make sure illegal activities are voided, protecting goods' integrity. Environmental protection may involve waste management and prevention of pollution.

Port Facilities

Fishing - Related Facilities: In consideration of the importance that fishing bears, the port has fish-unloading facilities, cold storage facilities for fish preservation, and areas for fish processing. These will help maintain the quality of the fish products right from the time of unloading to the time of either sale locally or exportation.

Cargo-handling facilities: The harbor has both cranes and other equipment for the loading and unloading of general cargo and fuel. Storage areas are used for storing other types of cargo, including construction materials and consumer goods.

Tourism-related Facilities: The port does have facilities to dock tourist vessels and places for embarking and disembarking of passengers. It may also contain a tourist information center, restaurants, and small shops.

Channel and Direct Shipping

This is because the channels in the port are maintained for easy passage of ships. It offers direct shipping services to the primary ports in Cape Verde and also has connections to various international destinations. These direct shipping links help in effective transportation of goods as well as for the tourism industry.

2. Importance of Measuring Ocean Currents in Porto Inglês Port

Impact on Ship Navigation

It is of vital importance that ocean currents at the Porto Inglês Port be measured in terms of ship navigation. Currents may throw a ship off course or speed. With proper information about current, ship captains will be in a position to change course and speed with great precision, much more necessary for small vessels such as fishing boats and tourist vessels. It helps in preventing collisions while allowing docking and undocking procedures much easier.

Influence on Cargo Handling

Ocean currents can affect the efficiency of handling cargo. Turbulent or strong currents would impede accurate operations of cranes and other handling equipment. Current measurement will enable the port authority to efficiently plan cargo-handling operations, considering the current condition to minimize waiting time for a ship and increase the effectiveness of the works.

The measurement of ocean currents is very essential in environmental monitoring in the port area. In cases of oil spills or any other kind of pollutants, the current data will help in estimating the spread direction and speed of contaminants, thus enabling the port to take timely preventive and remedial measures toward protection of the marine environment. This makes acoustic doppler flow meter much more advanced and easier in the measurement of the currents in the ocean than the traditional methodologies used hence useful for the operations at Porto Inglês Port.

3. How ADCPs Work-Use of Doppler Principle

Measurement Principle

The working principle of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) is based on the principle of Doppler. In case an acoustic doppler velocity meter sends an acoustic signal into the water, that signal is scattered by particles and all the other constituents present within the water. Due to the Doppler effect, the frequency of the scattered signal received back by the acoustic doppler flow meter will be different from the transmitted frequency because the water particles are in motion with the ocean current. It is possible to calculate the velocity of the water particles and, hence, the velocity of the ocean current by measuring this frequency shift.

ADCP in Port Ocean Current Measurement: Shipborne ADCP

Shipborne ADCPs are installed on ships. The ship, while moving in the area of the Porto Inglês Port, continuously sends and receives acoustic signals with the help of an ADCP current profiler. It can measure the ocean currents at different depths within its path according to its movement. The data obtained from these can be of relevance for the current condition analysis where the ship is passing through and of valuable relevance for navigation and operations.

Fixed ADCPs would be installed at a certain location site at the Porto Inglês Port, generally on piers or buoys, standing fixed at one place while monitoring the continuous current of the ocean. These can provide long-term and stable current data that could be useful for understanding overall current patterns and changes that are taking place in the port area over time.

4. Measurement of Currents of Porto Inglês Port: Requirements for High Quality

Equipment Requirement

Material Reliability: Used materials should be highly reliable, resisting such a harsh marine environment due to corrosion caused by sea water, high humidity, and eventually impacting floating objects.

Small Size, Light Weight, and Low Power Consumption: A small-sized and lightweight acoustic doppler velocity meter contributes to convenience in installation and operation, especially for shipborne ADCP. Low power consumption allows the equipment to operate for a long time without frequent battery replacement or high-power supply requirements, important for both fixed and shipborne ADCP.

Low Cost for Mass Measurement: Large-scale current measurement in the port requires that the cost of the equipment be relatively low to enable multiple deployments of ADCP at various locations in the port for more comprehensive current data.

The Advantage of Using Titanium Alloy for ADCP Casing

The best material for ADCP current profiler casing is titanium alloy. It has several advantages. First, there is excellent corrosion resistance; it could well oppose the corrosive effect caused by sea water for the purpose of long-term stability and reliability of equipment. Second, with a high strength-to-weight ratio, it could provide enough strength and keep a relatively low weight to meet the requirements of small size and light weight. Thirdly, the titanium alloy owns excellent thermal stability, which is propitious for the normal use of the equipment when it is in service at various ambient temperature environments in the area of Porto Inglês Port.

5. How to Choose Right Equipment for Current Measurement

According to Use Purpose

Shipborne ADCP: If the measurement is mainly to be carried out on ships, then shipborne ADCP current profiler becomes suitable. With this in place, it is able to move with every movement the ship makes in order to measure currents from different areas of the port.

The Bottom-ADCP: It would be a good choice for the sitting while performing long-term fixed-point monitoring of currents at a certain place in the Porto Inglês Port. It is usually installed on the seabed and can monitor the current around it continuously.

Buoy - Type ADCP: It finds applications in the real - time monitoring of currents in a certain area of the port. The buoy can float on the water surface and the acoustic doppler velocity meter on it can measure the currents around it.

Selection Based on Different Frequencies

Different frequencies of ADCPs are used for different water depths. For example, 600 kHz acoustic doppler flow meter is suitable to deploy in water with a depth of up to 70 m. The instrument can provide more detailed current data on the relatively shallow water area. On the other hand, 300 kHz acoustic doppler velocity meter is suitable up to 110 m depth of water, while the 75 kHz ADCP doppler is suitable for much deeper water, up to 1000 m. It also allows the computation of correct current intensities at various levels according to the prevailing water depth conditions in Porto Inglês Port.

There are several well - known acoustic doppler velocity meter brands such as Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, for those looking for cost - effective options, the Chinese brand China Sonar PandaADCP is highly recommended. It is made of all - titanium alloy material and has an incredible cost - performance ratio. You can visit its website (https://china-sonar.com/) for more information.

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