MRI: Acquisition of an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) System for Profiling Open Channels

University Of North Dakota Main Campus, Grand Forks ND

Investigators

Abstract

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program grant will support acquisition of a modular Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) instrument system that will enable fundamental research on stream, river, lake, canals and culverts in North Dakota and the upper Midwest. ADCP instruments are both boat and static platform deployable and can collect data autonomously. ADCP allows for spatially and contemporaneously resolved quantification of water velocities profiles and such measurements are necessary across watersheds to better forecast flooding events. As such the instrument will support research that is poised to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare in that improved flood forecasting can reduces loss of human life, can be used to help mitigate property damage and most efficiently target first responder efforts, and by study of these systems, better civil engineering approaches can be taken to lessen the severity of future flooding events. The instrument system would support a multi-disciplinary research group of faculty and students from various engineering, science, natural resources, geoscience departments and programs at the University of North Dakota (UND), Valley City State University (VCSU), and Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC), a tribal college, to conduct water resources related research. Much of the research is societally relevant and will help to improve flood forecasting and inform water resources management decisions. The investigators plan to engage K-12 students in experiential leaning of field analytical techniques as applied to research problems in watershed hydrology. The ADCP that will be purchased using funds from the award will support fundamental research on: the hydrodynamics of open channel flows in snow-melt triggered flooding on North Dakota rivers and streams; studies of the impacts of prairie restoration on stream and river hydrographs; and studies of nutrient, solute and sediment transport dynamics in large rivers and higher order streams, lakes, canals and culverts in North Dakota and the upper Midwest. ADCP allows for spatially and contemporaneously resolved quantification of complex flow fields where laminar flow and turbulence interact on short timescales. ADCP relies on the Doppler effect of sound waves scattered back from particles within the water column to allow for flow field and depth profiling of the water bodies with cm-scale resolution. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.