Application of ADCP to Ocean Current Measurement in Coron Port

1. Where is Coron Port?

Coron Port is a port situated within the municipality of Coron in the province of Palawan, Philippines. This place is a strategic port in the region highly acclaimed for natural beauty and rich marine resources.

Port Scale and Throughput

The port is of a considerable scale given its importance to both tourism and local trade. It receives many different vessel types, including small fishing boats, medium-sized tourist boats, and cargo ships. In terms of throughput, the traffic volume is high in the peak tourist season. This port acts as an entry point for tourists to the world-famous Coron Island and all other places of interest within its environs. It also plays a very important role in the local economy, providing the means of transport of goods such as fresh produce, construction materials, and other supplies to and from the area.

Routes and Business

Coron Port has proper connectivity with other Philippine ports through various domestic routes. It serves as an important link in transporting passengers and goods to major cities and other tourist destinations. The major business activities within the port revolve around tourism and fishing. Tourist boats run on schedule to take visitors to various lagoons, beaches, and dive sites in the area. Fishing is also an important part of the local economy, with many fishing vessels operating from the port for both fishing activities and selling their catch.

Port Management and Operation

The port is managed by local port authorities who are responsible for ensuring smooth operations. They oversee tasks such as vessel traffic control, berthing arrangements, and cargo handling. In the context of tourism, they also work to enhance the visitor experience by providing facilities and services such as tourist information centers, clean and accessible restrooms, and well - maintained docking areas. Another important aspect is security, and for this, the port authority works in coordination with the local police and other agencies responsible for maritime security to guarantee the safety of the passengers and protection of port facilities.

Port Facilities

The port has different types of facilities. There are several berths that accommodate various vessels. It has docking areas with piers and pontoons designed to handle the influx of tourist boats during peak times. It also includes the storage facilities for fishing tools and equipment, cold storage for preserving fish and other items that require cold, restaurants, souvenir shops, and waiting rooms for tourists. And, of course, the fueling stations for fueling boats and other equipment used by the boats, such as cranes for loading and unloading goods.

Channel and Direct Navigation

The channel in Coron Port is well-maintained; thus, safe navigation can be done. The channel is dredged regularly to ensure depth, especially with the tide changes in the area. Along the channel are buoys, beacons, and markers acting like navigational aids for ships and boats. These aids are very much required for direct navigation to enable the mariners to keep off shallow areas and other possible hazards for a smooth passage to and from the port.

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

Measurement of ocean currents is so important in Coron Port for many reasons.

Efficient Port Operations

Accurate current measurements are very important to efficiently berth and moor vessels. Ocean currents might have a great impact on the movement of ships and boats. With preinformation about the direction and speed of the currents, port operators are able to better position vessels during berthing. This would reduce the chances of collisions, hence ensuring the safety of vessels and port infrastructure. This becomes very important during the peak tourist season when there is immense traffic of boats.

Value Addition to Tourism

Understanding ocean currents is essential in the tourism-oriented activities of the port. Tourist boats can plan their routes in a way to avail favorable currents to give a smoother and more pleasant ride to passengers. Knowledge of the currents also helps in scheduling dive trips and other water-based activities. For instance, divers may be taken to sites where currents bring in clear water and a diverse range of marine life to enhance the overall diving experience.

Benefits for the Fishing Industry

The fishing industry of Coron relies heavily on ocean current knowledge. Currents transport nutrients and influence the distribution of fish and other marine organisms. By properly measuring the currents, the fishermen are able to spot areas where there is higher fish concentration, increasing catch and productivity. This information may also contribute to predicting the best times and locations for fishing, in turn contributing to the sustainability of the local fishing industry.

Infrastructure and Environmental Considerations

From an infrastructural point of view, the current measurements provide very important data on the maintenance and future planning of port structures. Currents can exert forces on piers, breakwaters, and other port facilities that affect their stability and durability. Understanding the currents is also important for environmental management in that it allows the prediction of the dispersion of pollutants and other substances in the water, thus enabling better waste management and protection of the marine environment.

In principle, Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) is a more advanced and convenient means of measuring ocean currents than traditional techniques. It provides real-time and detailed information about the current profile that helps in more accurate and efficient monitoring of ocean currents within the port area.

3. How do ADCPs using the Doppler principle work?

The ADCPs work on the principle of the Doppler effect. They transmit acoustic signals into the water. These acoustic waves reflect from moving particles in water, such as suspended sediments or small organisms. When these acoustic waves meet the moving particles, the frequency of the reflected waves changes due to the Doppler effect.

This frequency shift of the reflected signals is measured by the ADCP profiler. With particular algorithms and calibration, it can calculate the velocity of the moving particles. Since the movement of the particles is due mainly to the ocean current, the ADCP current meter can calculate the current velocity.

ADCP in Port Ocean Current Measurement

Shipborne ADCP

Shipborne ADCPs are fixed on vessels operating in the area of the port. The ADCP current profiler continuously sends out acoustic pulses while the ship is in motion through the water. Most of the time these are directed downwards and sideways of the ship. In this manner, the ADCP flow meter will measure the current velocities along the track of the ship at different depths. Data obtained while the ship is underway can be combined to provide a general outline of the current field over the area of interest in the port. This gives a comprehensive insight into the prevailing features of the patterns in progress during the voyage of a ship.

Fixed ADCP

Fixed ADCPs are installed at selected locations at the port, either on the bottom or mounted on fixed structures at piers or breakwater. These ADCPs monitor the ocean current at that location as functions of time. Fixed ADCPs have an important role regarding understanding long-term, consistent current conditions at key points within the port. The information is referred to in various ways for port operations, research, and infrastructure planning.

4. What is needed for high-quality measurement of Coron port currents?

Equipment Requirements

For high-quality measurement of the ocean currents in Coron Port, the equipment needs to have reliable materials. It must withstand the harsh marine environment, including the corrosive effects of seawater, high pressures at different water depths, and potential impacts from floating debris.

Other important factors affecting the equipment are size and weight. Smaller size and lighter weight can be advantageous, especially at installation on vessels or areas where space is limited on fixed structures. This allows greater flexibility in the placement of the equipment.

Other important power consumption is another critical factor: a low-power-consuming device is desirable to enable it to keep working for longer periods of time without necessarily having its batteries changed frequently or requiring immense amounts of energy supply. This is particularly important in the case of fixed ADCPs, for which continuous power supply is difficult to avail.

The Advantage of a Titanium Alloy Casing

A casing made of Titanium alloy is an excellent choice. Well, titanium alloy serves to show very good corrosion resistance against the attacks from seawater, thus long lasting, while keeping integrity and performance maintained for an extended time in service. Furthermore, its strength-to-weight ratio is very high. For these reasons, ADCPs with high mechanical strengths but light weight will have great advantages for installation and operation. Besides, it can resist high pressure in greater depth, which fits for the different water depth condition usage in the port area.

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

Based on Usage

Shipborne ADCP: Where the primary aim is to gain a broad perspective of the current patterns in the port during vessel traffic, shipborne ADCP would be a good option. It can cover different areas of the port as the ship sails around, giving a wide-ranging view of the current situation.

Bottom-mounted (Sitting on the seabed) ADCP: For long-term, continuous monitoring of current conditions at fixed locations-for instance, near important port structures-or where the characteristics of current at that particular area are crucially required for research or operational references, bottom-mounted ADCPs fit the bill. They have shown the ability to offer the most stable and consistent data over extended observation periods.

Buoy-mounted ADCP: In cases when the currents need to be measured in areas not so accessible by fixed installations or ship operations, buoy-mounted ADCPs can be used. These ADCPs can move with the currents to some extent while collecting data, providing insights into the current variations in those particular regions.

Based on Frequency

Water depth up to 70 meters will generally allow the use of an ADCP meter with a frequency of 600 kHz. It gives detailed and accurate current measurements in the relatively shallow areas of the port.

Shallower water to a depth of 110 meters will be better served by a 300 kHz ADCP. This can effectively penetrate the water column to obtain reliable current data at those depths.

The ADCP should be applied in the 75 kHz frequency when deeper waters with a water depth of up to 1000 meters are monitored. It can handle such big depth range while it will measure the ocean currents with acceptable accuracy.

There are several well-known ADCP brands in the market, such as Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, it's worth mentioning a cost-effective Chinese ADCP brand-China Sonar PandaADCP. It is made of all-titanium alloy material and offers an impressive price-performance ratio. You can visit its website at (https://china-sonar.com/) for more information.

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