ADCP's Application to Ocean Current Measurement in Kalamansig Port

1. Where is Kalamansig Port?

Kalamansig Port is located within the municipality of Kalamansig, within the province of Sultan Kudarat, the Philippines. The said port plays an essential part in both the local and regional transportation network as this location is important in both aspects of trade and travelling matters.

Port Scale and Throughput

It is a moderately scaled port that handles all kinds of goods, very important for the local economy. It deals with agricultural products from the surrounding farms, such as rice, coconuts, and other crops. It also receives construction materials for local infrastructure projects and distributes consumer goods to the local community. Although the tonnage handled by this port may not be as large as that of some major international ports, it nevertheless serves the economic activities of the region steadily and is always striving to increase its handling capacity for more cargo.

Routes and Business

It is connected to various domestic ports through well-defined shipping routes. Domestically, it facilitates the distribution of local produce to bigger markets and the importation of basic supplies for the locals. Major business activities at the port include loading and unloading of small to medium-sized vessels, warehousing of goods around the port area, and liaison with relevant authorities for proper documentation and customs clearance. The port also engages in the fishing industry by providing docking facilities for fishing boats and handling fishery-related products.

Port Management and Operation

The local port authorities are responsible for overseeing the port and ensuring that it functions properly and efficiently. They take care of scheduling vessels, maintaining the order of the port area, and the general condition of the port facilities. Regular maintenance and upgrade activities are carried out at the berths, warehouses, and other infrastructures to support the flow of goods and services continuously.

Port Facilities

Kalamansig Port has berthing facilities that can accommodate the small and medium-sized fishing boats and cargo vessels of varied dimensions. Likewise, there are warehouses that could accommodate various types of goods and protect them from exposure to nature. Similarly, there are cranes and forklifts that could serve as load/unloading equipment for moving cargo to and from the vessels to the ports-side area. It also has facilities for providing basic services to the vessels, like fuel supply and freshwater supply.

Channel and Direct Shipping

There is, amongst many others, a fair type of channel that does allow safe entrance and exit by ships. The channel itself gets depth and width at periodic terms to make the voyage smooth and effective through vessels of fitting size. While there are not that many direct connections to international shipping, they do have regular services that link them with domestic mainstay ports for movement within.

2. Why is there a need to measure the ocean current in Kalamansig Port?

Safety of Vessel Navigation

The measurement of ocean currents in Kalamansig Port is essential to the safety of the ships navigating in and out of the port. In this respect, knowledge about the direction and speed of the current will help ship captains and pilots make more accurate decisions during berthing and departure. In this regard, the understanding of such patterns of currents will minimize the chances of collision with port structures or other vessels under conditions of poor visibility or adverse weather.

Optimal Performance of Port Operations

Accurate current data is invaluable in optimizing the functions of the port. For example, variable current conditions can affect both the time and efficiency of the loading and unloading of cargoes. Strong currents may, for instance, necessitate changes in the positioning of vessels or the use of additional mooring equipment for the safety of the men and the integrity of the cargo that is being transferred. This, in turn, may be better planned and scheduled by port operators with precision current measurements, thus making the operations more productive in general.

Long-Term Port Development

The ocean currents are of utmost importance in relation to the long-term development and expansion of the port. Hydrodynamic forces from currents can affect stability and durability in port structures at berth and pier. This is the kind of information the engineers need to design and create new infrastructure that will support such forces. In addition, it helps in understanding the best locations for future expansions and improvements that would guarantee its functionality and sustainability over the years.

It is more technologically advanced and at the same time more convenient for measuring ocean currents than the traditional ways. With speed and precision, it will be able to provide comprehensive current information at varied depths in real time-a datum highly essential for the effective operation and further development of Kalamansig Port.

3. How do Doppler Principle ADCPs Work?

ADCPs operate based on the Doppler principle. They send acoustic signals through the water. These acoustic waves scatter off the suspended particles or other scattering objects in the water that are moving with the ocean current. If the waves are reflected back to the ADCP profiler, the frequency of the reflected waves is shifted by the Doppler effect.

From this Doppler shift analysis, the ADCP current meter computes the velocity of the ocean current at various depths within its measurement range.

ADCP in Port Ocean Current Measurement

Shipborne ADCP

Shipborne ADCPs are installed on ships operating in Kalamansig Port. While the ship moves around the area of the port, the ADCP current profiler continuously emits acoustic signals in different directions. It can measure the ocean current at several points along the path the ship has traveled, thus giving a general view of the distribution of the current in the area covered by the movement of the ship.

Fixed ADCP

Fixed ADCPs are typically deployed at discreet locations in the port on the seabed at specific locations of infrastructure or out in the waterway at some strategic point. They are monitoring conditions of the ocean current continuously at that particular location for long periods of time and provide really valuable data about the regular patterns of that current, its periodic and episodic variations, and its effects on port facilities at that fixed point.

4. What is needed to make the measurement of Kalamansig port currents of high quality?

Material Reliability

Reliable materials in equipment will serve to make high-quality measurement of ocean currents in Kalamansig Port. With a harsh marine environment involving elements like saltwater corrosion, variable water pressures across depths, and constant wave actions, materials must be able to handle such aspects without degrading the performance of the measurement device. For this purpose, titanium alloy is one of the best choices for ADCPs casing. It has very high strength, which is able to resist mechanical forces in the marine environment, and excellent corrosion resistance to ensure a long life in seawater.

Size, Weight, and Power Consumption

The equipment should also be designed to be small in size, light in weight, and low in power consumption. A reduced size makes it easy to mount at various locations in a port, either on board of a ship or at some fixed location. Light in weight facilitates handing and deployment, and low in power consumption ensures it is able to operate continuously without frequency in the replacement of its batteries or excessive power supply.

Cost-Effectiveness

Cost-effectiveness is an essential factor to allow the wide measurement across the port area. The equipment must have a reasonable cost so that several units can be placed to get comprehensive current data from different locations in the port area.

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

According to the Usage Purpose

• Shipborne ADCP: When the purpose is to have mobile measurements while the ship navigates in the area of the port for a fast understanding of the general situation in different parts of the port, then the shipborne ADCP would be suitable. It will be able to cover a wide range of areas during the movement of the ship.
• Bottom-mounted ADCP: When the monitoring of ocean current is required continuously for a long time at a specific fixed location in the port, such as near important facilities or an area where it is very important to observe closely the characteristics of current, bottom-mounted ADCP should be more appropriate. This yields stable, consistent data at a position.
• Buoy-mounted ADCP: In locations where it is not convenient to install fixed equipment on the seabed or on other structures, buoy-mounted ADCP can be used. The buoy-mounted ADCP can measure the ocean current in the upper layers of the water body and transmit the data wirelessly.

According to Different Frequencies

• In Kalamansig Port, for the water depth within 70m, the 600kHz ADCP is usually appropriate because it has good accuracy of current data at this depth.
• The 300kHz ADCP will be better for waters with a depth of about 110 meters as it captures the characteristics of the current well at that depth.
• The 75kHz ADCP should be selected in those deeper water areas with water depth up to 1000m because it is able to penetrate deeper and capture reliable current information.

Well-known ADCP brands include Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. But there is a Chinese brand of ADCP worth mentioning: China Sonar PandaADCP. The product is constructed all from titanium alloy materials, which is very worthy of the price-performance ratio. You can learn more about it on the website: https://china-sonar.com/.

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