Measurement of Ocean Current by ADCP: An Application at Kiel Port

1. Location of Kiel Port

The Kiel Port is located in the northern part of Germany alongside the Baltic Sea within the City of Kiel. It stands at the mouth of the Kiel Canal, which is one of the major waterways joining the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. This strategic position gives Kiel Port a particular place in international shipping, forming a crucial junction for ships crossing between the two seas. Easy access to all major shipping lanes in the Baltic Sea makes for good trade conditions between Germany and the Nordic countries, as well as other regions around the Baltic.

Port Scale and Throughput

Kiel Port is a medium- to large-sized port with varied capacity. It contains several berths that can handle vessels of various types, such as container ships, cruise ships, and Ro-Ro vessels. The annual throughput is fairly high, with the port dealing in all types of cargo. This port is of considerable importance for the import and export of machinery, consumer products, and construction materials. Due to its popularity for cruise trips, it also receives a fair share of cruise ships and passengers yearly.

Routes and Business

The port has an extensive network of shipping routes. It is directly connected to major ports in the Baltic Sea, such as Stockholm of Sweden, Helsinki of Finland, and Riga of Latvia. Such connections allow easy facilitation of goods within the Baltic region. It also offers regular ferry services to various destinations in Scandinavia, which, in addition to the passenger transportation, carry various vehicles. Certain business activities that are being pursued by the Kiel Port are general cargo handling, container trans - shipment, cruise ship activities, while in the offshore wind energy industry with facilities for wind turbine installation equipment.

Port Management and Operation

The port is managed by the Kiel Port Authority, which ensures that operations are performed in a safe manner with efficiency and concern for the environment. Management is responsible for the upkeep of the port infrastructure, which includes berths, quays, and storage facilities. It enforces international shipping regulations, safety standards, and environmental protection. The port authority works together with shipping companies, cruise lines, and other stakeholders to achieve seamless operations and increase the port's competitiveness.

Port Facilities

Kiel Port has modern facilities to handle all types of cargo and vessels. It is equipped with container-handling cranes that can handle loading and unloading from ships efficiently. Similarly, Ro-Ro vessels have their specific ramps and handling areas. The port similarly has storage areas, including warehouses for general cargo and open-air yards for bulk commodities. Moreover, it has well-equipped passenger terminals for cruise ships in order to make the travel of passengers comfortable. In addition, there are also facilities of ship-repair and maintenance to support the shipping activities in the port.

Waterways and Direct Navigation

The waterways to Kiel Port are maintained and dredged, hence allowing vessel access under safe conditions. The channel at the port is well-marked, and with buoys carrying lighthouses, that will provide supplementary assistance to vessels in reaching the port. The port has direct access to the Baltic Sea and, via the Kiel Canal, to the North Sea; that connects vessels to the worldwide shipping network.

2. Why should we measure the ocean currents in Kiel Port?

Navigation Safety

Accurate knowledge of ocean currents is important in Kiel Port for purposes of navigation safety. Current patterns of the Baltic Sea are influenced by tides, wind, and exchange of water masses. These, in turn, have a major effect on vessel movements, particularly when berthing, unberthing, and navigating inside the channels. Ocean current measurement gives ship captains the capability to make wise decisions, rectify courses, and avoid collision or grounding.

Optimization of Port Operations

Ocean currents are very important in optimizing operations at ports. Berthing vessels particularly have to take into consideration the direction and strength of the current. A strong current can always make the berthing process more laborious and time-consuming. Thus, accurate measurement of the current will be helpful for port operators in order to plan for the best time to be utilized for vessel maneuvers, manage resources well, and enhance the general efficiency of cargo-handling operations. Currents also affect the movement of port-related equipment, such as tugboats and floating cranes, and such knowledge can improve operational safety and productivity.

Environmental Protection

Ocean current measurement thus serves as environmental protection in the port area, too. Currents are considered the most influencing agents in a dispersion process for a pollutant. In a case of a discharged oil cargo or other contaminant, foreknowledge of these patterns can contribute to predicting an overall spread trajectory for the spread of contaminants in an environment; thereby, protection to the marine ecosystem of Baltic Sea and in surrounding coasts through timely environmental managerial preventive steps.

In this respect, Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) has become a very powerful and effective tool for measuring currents of water with high accuracy and in real-time in Kiel Port.

3. How do the ADCPs using Doppler Principle work?

Principle of Measurement

ADCPs basically work on the principle of the Doppler effect. Each time an ADCP flow meter sends out an acoustic signal into the water column, sound waves of the transmitted frequency encounter and scatter off suspended particles in the water-such as sediment or small organisms. These particles, moving with the water current, change the frequency of the sound waves reflected back to the ADCP from that which was originally transmitted. This change in frequency, the Doppler shift, is measured by the ADCP. If an instrument applies the Doppler equation it gives the velocity from a current at depth intervals down through the water column.

Specific Methods in Port Current Measurement

• Ship-borne ADCP: An ADCP current profiler attached to an in-transit ship is called the ship-borne ADCP. During its cruise across Kiel Port, simultaneous current velocity in many layers within the track traced by the course of the moving vessel can be recorded. Useful to get an extensive view into the instant situation of the current in the port, which can be good in large-scale navigations.
• Fixed ADCP: Fixed ADCPs are installed at some places in the port, for instance, on the seabed or on fixed structures such as piers or buoys. These ADCPs can observe the current conditions of a point continuously over a long time period, which provides valuable data about the long-term trends and local variations in the currents.

4. What's needed for high-quality measurement of Kiel Port currents?

Reliability of Equipment

In Kiel Port, high-quality measurement of currents requires the ADCP current meter equipment to be reliable. This marine environment, characterized by variable salinity and cold temperatures, might present conditions that expose the ADCP to strong winds; thus, it has to be very robust in order to ensure limited breakdowns. Reliability in equipment leads to almost constant data collection, which is crucial for analysis and decision-making.

Size, Weight, and Power Consumption

The ADCP profiler should be compact in size and lightweight. This will make installation easy, especially under such circumstances when space is limited, for instance, on small local vessels or in confined port structures. It should also have low power consumption to enable long-term operation, especially for fixed-installation ADCPs that may have to rely on battery-powered or solar-powered systems.

Cost-effectiveness

Being economical, the cost of an ADCP meter should not be very high to enable large-scale measurement in the port area. The effectiveness of the cost will enable one to deploy any number of ADCP units he needs for accurate, comprehensive data about currents coming from different areas of the facility.

Selection of Materials

Accordingly, the casing should be made preferably from titanium alloy. The said alloy has served with excellent resistance to corrosion which is a guarantee for long-duration use in Baltic Sea marine atmosphere. Besides being lightweight, this material is indeed strong enough that has satisfied not only the strength requirement but also facilitated ease during its installation procedure.

5. How to Choose Right Equipment for Measuring Currents?

As Per Usage

• Ship-borne ADCP: Ideal for large - scale surveys of the port area. When a ship needs to quickly assess the current conditions over a wide range, a ship-borne ADCP is the best choice.
• Sit-on-bottom ADCP: This type is suitable for long - term monitoring of specific locations in the port, such as near the entrance or close to berths.
• Buoy-mounted ADCP: This is helpful in getting data at the water surface; it is also applicable in areas where fixed-bottom installation is not possible.

Based on Frequency

• In water depths up to 70m, the suitable ADCP is that with a frequency of 600kHz.
• An ADCP of 300kHz is suitable for as high as 110m water depths.
• In the case of deeper waters, an ADCP of 75kHz is the one to use.

There are quite a few brands of ADCPs in the market, such as Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, to those who require a cost-effective and high-quality option, China Sonar PandaADCP would be highly recommended. It's made of all-titanium alloy material to ensure excellent durability in the marine environment, featuring an incredible cost-performance ratio. You can learn more about their offerings at their website: https://china-sonar.com/.

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