Application of ADCP in Ocean Current Measurement of Batangas Port

1. Where is the Batangas Port located?

Batangas Port lies within the province of Batangas, Philippines. The major maritime hub in this locality happens to hold great relevance due to substantial domestic and international trade across the waterways.

Scale of Port

Having a big scale, it boasts of heavy cargo and passenger traffic at this port. It serves as a significant gateway in the following fields: manufacturing, agriculture, and energy industries. The yearly throughput amount in the port comprises million tons of goods, from petroleum products, industrial raw materials to consumer goods. It also serves a massive number of ferry passengers crossing across the various islands in the Philippines, hence busy and bustling with regard to people and commodities movements.

Routes and Business

Batangas Port has various domestic and international connections. Within the country, it connects through regular ferry services to most of the top tourist destinations and other economic centers in the Philippine archipelago. International connections are also established by this port with neighboring Southeast Asian countries for trade reasons, covering a wide range of product imports and exports. The port and its stakeholders operate a number of different businesses: container shipping and bulk cargo handling are the more common ones, though with specialized terminals.

Port Management and Operation

The port is managed by professional port authorities that ensure smooth operations. They are responsible for vessel traffic control, berthing arrangements, cargo handling procedures, and security measures. They coordinate with various government agencies and private participants for the smooth running of the port, continuously upgrading the facilities and improving services to meet the ever-increasing demands of trade and transportation.

Facilities

The port is equipped with a number of modern berths capable of accommodating vessels of different sizes, from small fishing boats to large container ships and oil tankers. It has container yards for the storage and handling of containerized cargo and storage tanks for petroleum and other liquid products. Besides this, there are warehouses in the port's area for general cargo storage, along with corresponding equipment for loading and unloading, cranes, and forklifts to facilitate the transfer of goods between ships and onshore areas.

Channel and Direct Navigation

The port has a well-maintained and well-marked channel that can allow the safe navigation of ships. The channel is regularly dredged to maintain the required depth for vessels of various drafts to enter into and out of the facility smoothly. It has advanced navigational aids such as buoys, beacons, and radar systems that assist mariners in direct navigation to ensure the safe passage of ships even during different weather and tidal conditions.

2. Why do we have to measure the ocean currents in the Batangas port?

The measurement of the currents of the ocean is highly relevant and purposeful in many respects and, more particularly, serves as an immense advantage towards optimizing the operational efficiency of the port at Batangas. Indeed, current information serves accurately for the berthing and mooring operations of vessels. As guided by the directions and velocity of the currents, ships can be brought into proper berths with greater facility than by simply following other maneuvers on docking and undocking processes or avoiding possible accidents occurring around those operations.

Secondly, it is very important in shipping schedules. Currents can be friendly or unfavorable to vessels going into the port or coming out. Precise measurement of currents, shipping companies will have better scheduling of their arrival and departure by making use of favorable currents, thus saving fuel and time; this will eventually improve the general productivity of the port and reduce shipping costs.

Besides, updated data concerning the hydrodynamic forces acting on the structures of the port are of crucial importance in infrastructure planning and maintenance; thus, facilities can be better designed, more resistant, and long-lasting while providing, at the same time, a better forecast of damage that might be caused by strong currents over time.

Besides, from an ecological point of view, knowledge about ocean currents helps in monitoring the spread of pollutants and other wastes in the waters of the port. It allows for waste disposal and spill response management with better care, thus protecting the marine ecosystem around the port area.

Of all ocean current measurement techniques, the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) represents one that is far more sophisticated and handier compared to the earlier traditional techniques. It will obtain rapid detailed current profiles over a depth range, in real-time, that will be invaluable in effective management and operations of the Batangas Port.

3. How Do Doppler Principle ADCPs Work?

The ADCPs depend for their operation on the principle of the Doppler. They transmit acoustic signals into the water. Due to the Doppler effect, while these acoustic waves encounter and interact with moving particles in the water-suspended sediments or even small marine organisms-the frequency of the reflected waves will change. Precise measurement of this frequency shift of the reflected signals determines the velocity of the moving particles, hence the velocity of the ocean current.

ADCP in the Measurement of Ocean Current in Ports

Shipborne ADCP

Shipborne ADCPs are fitted on ships that ply their trade within the port area. As the ship moves through the water, the ADCP current meter continuously sends out acoustic pulses in multiple directions, normally downwards and to the sides. It measures current velocities at multiple depths along the path of the ship. This allows for the gathering of a great deal of information that can be used to map the existing field over various parts of the port, thereby giving a good understanding of the current patterns during the voyage of the ship.

Fixed ADCP

Fixed ADCPs are deployed at fixed locations in the port, usually on the seabed or attached to fixed structures such as piers or breakwaters. They continuously monitor the ocean currents at that exact spot over a longer period. That makes them acquire long-term, and steady current data, which is an essential condition to understand the regular variation of current condition at important positions in the port, which can offer the credible reference for port operations and scientific research.

4. What's needed for high-quality measurement of Batangas port currents?

The following are the key factors concerning equipment that are vital for quality measurement of the ocean currents in Batangas Port: First is the material reliability of the measuring equipment. The measurement device has to be able to tolerate such harsh marine conditions that include the corroding action of seawater, very high pressures at great depths, and even impacts from floating junk.

Smaller in size and weight has other advantages, too: it would offer easy installation and operating activities, considering the limited room spaces that vessels or fixed structures have within the port area. Low power consumption is also beneficial since higher hours of operation may be realized without frequent changeovers of batteries or excessive supplies of energy, which is rather crucial for fixed ADCPs with possible lack of access to continuous feeding.

Besides, low cost is relevant to allow large-scale deployments of the measuring devices within the port. The casing made of titanium alloy is highly recommended for an ADCP meter. Titanium alloy is advantageous in several ways: It has a very high corrosion resistance and, hence, the ADCP current profiler can stand in seawater, which is corrosive for a considerable amount of time without losing either its functionality or accuracy. It also has a favorable strength-to-weight ratio, allowing for durability in a lightweight design. Besides, it is able to bear high pressures at greater depths, hence being suitable for use in different water depth scenarios within the port area.

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

Based on Usage

Shipborne ADCP: This is very good for the purpose of getting an overview of the current patterns over large areas of the port during vessel movements. Large areas of locations can be covered as the ship navigates around the port, hence valuable data can be provided in analyzing the overall current situation.

Bottom-mounted ADCP: For the need to monitor current conditions continuously over a long period at fixed locations near important port infrastructures or within areas where consistent current data is essentially required for research or operational reference, a bottom-mounted ADCP is more appropriate. They can provide quite stable and reliable data for an extended period.

Buoy-mounted ADCP: When access is needed to currents through areas where it is not convenient or economical either with fixed installations or through ship operations, buoy-mounted ADCPs may be used. They could drift somewhat along with the currents while surveying and hence give an idea about the variations in current in those areas.

Based on Frequency

In water depths of 70 m, a frequency of 600 kHz is generally needed. This should be sufficient for the ADCP profiler to return high-resolution and reasonably accurate current measurements in rather shallow water conditions of the port area.

An ADCP meter with a 300 kHz rating would be adequate in case of water up to 110 m deep since at this depth, it gives good water column penetration with considerable reliability while recording the data.

For deeper areas where water depths reach 1000 meters, it is advisable to use an ADCP at a frequency of 75 kHz because it has been able to cover such huge depth ranges and still measure ocean currents with acceptable accuracy.

Some well-known brands of ADCPs include Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, I should point out an excellent Chinese ADCP brand: China Sonar PandaADCP. It is made from all-titanium alloy material, with great robustness and light weight. Furthermore, it has an exceptionally good price-performance ratio. You can visit its official website for more details: https://china-sonar.com.

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