ADCP in Suzhou Port's Ocean Current Measurement

1. Where is Suzhou Port?

Suzhou Port, which is located in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, is an important inland - waterway port benefiting from its position in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Port Scale and Throughput

Suzhou Port is of considerable scale, with several terminals along the canals and waterways. It boasts an extremely high throughput of many kinds of cargo: mainly cargo like containers, building materials, and industrial products. The container throughput has grown steadily in recent years, thereby strengthening its position in the regional transport and trade network.

Routes and Business

It also connects to an excellent network system of inland waterways for other major ports in the Yangtze River Delta and further down the Yangtze River. Inland, it connects to Shanghai, Nanjing, and several other inland ports. Businesswise it offers transportation services for many local products, including electronics, textiles, machinery parts, and other components. It also imports a lot of raw material for the local manufacturing companies.

Port Management and Operation

Management at Suzhou Port is efficient. All activities of the Suzhou Port authorities are undertaken by the management, which includes berth allocation, cargo handling, and ship scheduling within the facility. They undertake different modern technologies to make those processes much easier, such as using a digital platform to manage cargo flow to improve vessel turnaround efficiency.

Port Facilities

It has berthing facilities with good enough depths to accommodate the ships operating in the area, basically barges and feeder vessels; loading/unloading facilities like cranes and conveyor belts; storage areas; warehouse areas for storing finished goods; and open-air yards for bulk materials.

Channel and Direct Shipping

Suzhou Port maintains its channels well, thus ensuring access for ships dependably. Probably not as many direct international shipping routes are available here compared with some of the coastal ports, but due to good connections through the waterway network, access to the ports with direct international services is easy. This helps in smooth trans-shipment of goods for overall regional trade efficiency.

2. Why does Suzhou Port need to measure the ocean currents?

Influence on the Navigation of Ships

Measuring ocean currents around Suzhou Port has an important role in navigation. Currents can affect the speed and course of ships; in particular, small vessels operating in the port area. Understanding the pattern can perhaps enable ship captains to plan routes better and regulate their speed for safe and efficient navigation. In as complicated a waterway network in the port area as Suzhou, current information with precision can avoid grounding or the collision of any ship with other vessels.

Influence on Goods Handling

The flow of ocean currents influences cargo handling. Unstable and strong currents will make the operating precision of loading and unloading equipment worse. For example, when loading and unloading containers or bulk cargo with cranes, the motion caused by currents is inconvenient. With good measurements of current, this could also enable the port to plan cargo-handling activities more appropriately, thus minimizing the potential for cargo and equipment damage, and improving the overall effectiveness of the operation.

Role in Environmental Monitoring

It is very helpful in the field of marine environmental protection, such as the measurement of ocean currents in Suzhou Port. Currents are an important medium for carrying pollutants. In the event of the accidental spill of chemicals or any other type of pollutant, a proper understanding of the direction and speed of the current could serve to predict the spread of such contaminants. This enables the port authorities to adopt timely preventive and remedial measures so that the impact on the local water environment and aquatic life is reduced to a minimum. ADCP profiler offers more accurate and efficient ways of current measurement compared to traditional methods. Therefore, it is an ideal choice for Suzhou Port.

3. How do ADCPs using the Doppler principle work?

Measurement Principle

In principle, an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler(ADCP) works by applying the Doppler principle. When an ADCP meter sends an acoustic signal into the water, the signal is scattered by the particles and other substances within the water. As a result of the movement of the water - that is, the ocean current - the frequency of the scattered signal that is received back by the ADCP flow meter is changed. The velocity of the ocean current can thus be calculated from the frequency shift analysis.

ADCP in Port Ocean Current Measurement: Shipborne ADCP

Shipborne ADCPs are installed on ships. During this, the ship travels in the Suzhou Port area, and the ADCP doppler continuously transmits and receives acoustic signals. It can measure ocean currents at different depths along the path where it has traveled. Therefore, this data can be used to provide current conditions in real time, which may be very useful for the ship during its navigation and operation.

Fixed ADCP

Fixed ADCPs are installed at some fixed places in Suzhou Port, such as a pier or buoy. The place where the ADCP current profiler is installed stays at a fixed location and monitors the current of the surrounding ocean continuously. Long-time steady data in one current provided by them is useful for understanding the general trend of the currents and changes at Suzhou Port over time.

4. What does the equipment require for quality measurement of currents in Suzhou Port?

Equipment Requirements

The equipment to be deployed for measuring ocean currents in Suzhou Port has to be with the following requirements.

Material Reliability

Equipment material should be reliable. In that seawater is corrosive, and coupled with harsh conditions at sea, material preparation should be done in a way that it should resist corrosion well, hence giving it a long-time stability and accuracy in measurement.

Small in Size and Light in Weight with Low Power Consumption

Small size and lightweight provide a great facility for installation and operation, especially for shipborne ADCPs. Low power consumption allows the equipment to operate for longer periods without needing frequent battery replacement or high-power supply requirements, which also becomes important in both fixed and shipborne ADCP current meter.

Low Cost for Mass Measurement

The cost of such equipment should be relatively low for doing large-scale current measurement in the port. That would enable deployment of many ADCP current in various places within the port to obtain more comprehensive current data.

The Advantage of Using Titanium Alloy for ADCP Casing

For ADCP casing, titanium alloy is an excellent material. First, it has superior corrosion resistance that could bear the corrosive surroundings of seawater. Its strength-to-weight ratio is high; it means that while keeping the weight low, it could provide sufficient strength. Then, this meets the requirements for small size and light weight.

5. How to Choose the right equipment for current measurement?

Use Purpose According to In Suzhou Port, when choosing the equipment for current measurement, first of all, the use purpose must be considered.

Shipborne ADCP

If in navigation, the measurement is mainly undertaken, then shipborne ADCP would be appropriate. It can move with the ship to measure various parts of the port for current conditions.

Sitting - Bottom ADCP

The sitting-bottom ADCP is a good choice for the long-term fixed-point monitoring of the current at a certain spot in Suzhou Port. It is usually installed on the seabed and then monitors the current around it continuously.

Buoy-Type ADCP

This buoy-type ADCP will be suitable for applications that require real-time monitoring of the current in a certain area of Suzhou Port, where real-time transmission is needed. The buoy can float on the water surface, and the ADCP on it can measure the current around it.

Selection Based on Different Frequencies

Different frequencies of ADCPs will be suitable for different water depths. For instance, 600 kHz ADCP is suitable for water depth within 70 m. It can provide more detailed current data in relatively shallow water areas. 300 kHz ADCP is suited for water depths up to 110 m. 75 kHz ADCP is fitted for much deeper water, up to 1000 m. It will enable the measurement of current with depth correctly at Suzhou Port in line with real water depth conditions.

There are several well - known ADCP brands such as Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, for a cost - effective option, the Chinese brand China Sonar PandaADCP is worth recommending. 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.