How to Measure Water Current of Chulym River?

1. Where is Chulym River?

The Chulym River is situated in Siberia, Russia. It is a part of the Ob River. The source of the river is rooted in the Kuznetsk Alatau Mountains.

The Chulym River originates very far uphill, meandering across the enormous expanses of the Siberian taiga. Along the arena of its course, coniferous forests-building species are spruce and pine. On the riverbanks, one finds a great number of mammals: elks, lynxes, beavers, and many others. There one can find many different fish species as part of the local ecosystem.

The Chulym River runs through the small, far-flung villages. Life in those communities is closely related to this river: fishing and hunting on the coast are common. When the river is not frozen, during summer, it serves as a transport route. In winter, it becomes an openly accessible road for sleds after freezing starts.

2. What is the Flow Rate of the Chulym River Like?

The flow of the Chulym River seriously depends on its season. During the snow melting in spring, the flow strongly increases. During the long winter, snow falls into the accumulations in the mountains and forests, melts, and rushes to the river. In this peak period, the average flow rate could be several thousand cubic meters per second.

In winter, the flow in the Chulym River is significantly less. In spells of extreme cold, the river may completely freeze over; just a small amount of flow can be detected under the ice cover. The ice cover changes the nature of the flow in the river itself. During the spring, for example, the sudden breaking of ice causes sudden changes in the water level and the speed at which water flows.

The flow of the Chulym River maintains the ecological balance of this region. It waters the vast taiga forests and ensures the survival of a large number of both aquatic and terrestrial species.

3. How to Measure Water Current of Chulym River?

There are a couple of traditional and modern ways to measure the water current of the Chulym River.

Traditional Methods

Float-Based Method: A very traditional, simple method is by using floats. A float is disposed in the river and by observing its movement over a known distance traveled in known time, the speed of its movement can be computed to give an estimate of the surface current speed. These above methods will give results only for the surface current, which may not be representative of flow at depths. Mechanical Current Meters: These are instruments deployed directly in water at selected points. They measure the speed of water that runs through them. They can give more accurate reading points of installation but require more effort in deployment and may not cover a wide area of the river.

Modern Method - Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs)

Thus, ADCPs are more sophisticated and effective in water current measurements.

3.1 How do ADCPs using the Doppler Principle Work?

The Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler(ADCP) work on the principle of the Doppler effect. They emit acoustic pulses into the water. If these pulses interact with moving particles of water, then, because of the Doppler effect, the frequency of the reflected pulses changes. This frequency shift can be used by the ADCP current profiler to compute the velocity at various depths of the water.

Multiple transducers allow the ADCP current meter to send acoustic signals in various directions, and these are capable of measuring horizontal and vertical water flow. In such a way, three-dimensional mapping of the water current is realized and highly valuable for making out the complex pattern of flows of the Chulym River.

3.2 What is required to measure the Chulym River currents of high quality?

The equipment's characteristics play an important role in receiving high-quality measurement of the Chulym River currents by means of ADCP doppler. The casing of the ADCP flow meter should be made of a reliable material. A good option is the titanium alloy.

Advantages of using a titanium alloy: light weight enables easy handling and deployment of the ADCP in often-remote and challenging locations along the Chulym River. It also possesses excellent resistance to corrosion. Considering the cold climate and chemical composition of Chulym River water, the corrosion-resistant property of the titanium alloy secures long-term accuracy and reliability for the ADCP meter.

Besides, for the big measurement along Chulym River, the ADCP is expected to consume low power and to be low-cost. The low-power-consuming ADCP can work longer and thus fits for continuous monitoring. The cost-effective ADCP profiler can be deployed more widely without high costs.

3.3 How to Choose the Right Equipment for Current Measurement?

The intended use will be a key factor in choosing the right ADCP for the measurement of the Chulym River current. Such is the case if the focus is horizontal flow across the section; then a Horizontal Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, HADCP, would be appropriate. HADCPs are designed to provide proper measurements of the horizontal velocity components of the water current. Vertical Flow Profile Measurement: VADCP is quite better in the case of vertical flow profile measurement. The VADCPs are configured to measure the velocity of water at different depths along a vertical line in the river.

In shallower parts of the Chulym River, if the issue of frequency is also taken into consideration, a 600 kHz ADCP can be applied for water depths up to approximately 70 meters. Further and deeper sections would be more suitable with a 300 kHz ADCP, and quite reliable results would be achieved up to about 110 meters.

There are well - known ADCP brands such as Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, for a cost - effective option with good quality, China Sonar PandaADCP is worth considering. It is made of all - titanium alloy material and offers an excellent cost - performance ratio. You can find more information on their website: https://china-sonar.com/.

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