Discharge determination by Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP): a moving bottom error correction method and its application on the River Amazon at Óbidos

Abstract

Since 1995, hydrologists of the HiBAm (Hydrology and Geochemistry of the Amazon Basin) Research Program carried out several hundred discharge measurements in the Amazon basin. Implementation of modern discharge measurement techniques using ultrasonic devices (ADCP), give evidence of a systematic error linked to the displacement of the river bottom due to high water velocity close to the bottom. This error leads to an underestimation of discharge value. It was possible to establish a correlation between the water velocity close to the river bottom and the error between real position and position computed by ADCP when the boat returns to its starting point after a two-way crossing of the river. When there is no bottom displacement, i.e. during low flow period, this return position error is weak (less than 50 m). This has allowed quantification of river bed load speed, or bottom displacement speed. A correction method was developed on the basis of this correlation. This method, systematically applied to ADCP discharge measurements obtained at Óbidos hydrometric station, allowed all measured discharges to be corrected, especially for 1997 and 1999 floods. Another method, based on the analysis of real trajectory of the boat (obtained from topographic measurement or GPS positioning) compared with the ADCP computed trajectory, is under study.