Implementation of new hydroacoustic Implementation of new hydroacoustic technologies in a national operational hydrometric technologies in a national operational hydrometric

monitoring program : Water Survey of Canada’s monitoring program : Water Survey of Canada’s HydroAcoustic Technical Working GroupHydroAcoustic Technical Working Group

Jean-François Cantin & André BouchardHydrologie et ÉcohydrauliqueService Météorologique du Canada

CWRA conference, Banff (AB), June 2012

Page 2 – 23-4-21

About the Water Survey of Canada

• Started in 1908, with a federal government allocation of $10,000

– “The first appropriation made by Parliament for hydrographic work was in 1908… …. as this vote was not available until the season was too far advanced, only a part of it was used in purchasing equipment in 1909”

– “In Organizing the Hydrographic Surveys, it was realized with the funds available, it would be impossible to make complete investigations of the whole water supply”

• First published data :“Report of Progress of Streamflow for Calendar Year, 1909” by P.M. Sauder, Chief Hydrographer

• Spent two years in Montana with USGS

Page 3 – 23-4-21

• StationsF=Federal (EC) P=Provincial T=Territory

– Federal (F) – 604– F/P(T) - 635– P(T) – 947– 3rd Party - 165– Contributing – 301– TOTAL - 2652

Canada's Hydrometric Network(Source: HYDEX)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Year

No.

of S

tatio

ns

The Network

Page 4 – 23-4-21

Distribution of published discharge

• Source : Hydat

• Most of the Q data (59.3%) are below 10 m3/s

• Although Canada is known for large rivers, the bulk of our work is in smaller rivers

• A challenge for estimating Q !

Page 5 – 23-4-21

About WSC

• For almost all of the past 100 years, our primary velocity measurement instrument has been mechanical current meters – the Price AA and the Pygmy meter – and all of our performance standards, procedures, methodologies have been based on that technology and its known limitations, and safety hazards.

Page 6 – 23-4-21

History of HydroAcoustics at WSC

• In the 1980’s : AFFRA systems• In late 1980’s/early 1990’s, WSC joined the USGS in

investigating the use of acoustic Doppler technology in riverine environments.

• Early results showed that these units had the potential to become another tool in the streamflow gauging arsenal:

– Portable, could be used in many streams, drastically reduced the time to obtain a measurement, could reduce operational costs related to obtaining a measurement and could mitigate health and safety issues

• But they were large physically, and expensive– WSC bought its first Broadband ADCPs in 1994, for ~ $80K each

• Early uses included:– Special surveys of the St. Lawrence River to calibrate hydrodynamic

models, and to characterize the tidal cycle at Quebec City through measurements done every ½ hour, which could not be done with traditional technology

– Flow patterns and bathymetric surveys in northern rivers– Flow patterns past a beach in a river bay to determine the daily health

of the beach

Page 7 – 23-4-21

Instrument Use Comparison - National Results

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Year

% O

f M

ea

su

rem

en

ts T

ak

en

Price AA 94% 92% 85% 69%

ADCP 4% 5% 7% 6%

Flowtracker 1% 2% 8% 25%

Total Hydroacoustic 6% 8% 15% 31%

2006 2007 2008 2009

Non-Moving Parts Society

Evolution of hydroacoustic use

Page 8 – 23-4-21

Where Are We Today?

• WSC has accepted for operational use:– TRDI RioGrande ADCP’s

– TRDI StreamPro’s

– Sontek Flowtrackers

– OceanScience tethered and remote control boats

– Hornet remote control bank operated cableways

– Various GPS systems for positioning

– Various ship-to-shore telecommunication systems

– Moving boat and section-by-section software

Page 9 – 23-4-21

Documentation of ADCP Procedures

Page 10 – 23-4-21

Lots of work yet to do !!!This is where HATWG comes in

• Enhancement of instrument functionality and application– Shallower streams, wading, moving boat vs in-situ (ADVM), reduction in size

• Modernization of software– DOS to Windows; section-by-section, QA/QC of results– Ensure proper data management

• Transmission of data from instrument to computer– Rats nest of wires for batteries, modems, ship-to-shore

• Determination of position of instrument, especially related to water’s edge– GPS, range finders

• Moving bed conditions• Deployment platforms

– Tethered boats, remote control boats, remote control cableways, pitch & roll impacts

• Developing next generation technology– One instrument for all conditions - S5,M9, RiverRay

• Development & documentation of new standards, techniques, operating procedures, training

– Training - Instrument operation, theory of acoustic doppler, accreditation– Assess & define operational limitations (velocity, turbulence, suspended

sediment)• Data integrity between traditional and hydroacoustic technologies

– Impact of new technologies on product quality

Page 11 – 23-4-21

WSC’s long term vision for HA use

• All hydro acoustic instruments and ancillary tools used by the WSC will be:• Approved;• Tested for calibration to asses the proper functioning and life-cycle managed as per the

quality control program schedule;• Methods, procedures and techniques will be:

• Approved, adopted, disseminated in the WSC and updated as necessary.• Hydro acoustic training will be:

• Inclusive of hydro acoustic instruments, ancillary tools, methods, procedures and techniques, updated as necessary and oncorporated into the APTP-H for new recruits and provided to the work force for actualization purposes;

• Hydro acoustic training will be:• Provided with the most efficient combination of face-to-face situations, documentation,

videos, webex sessions, video & teleconferencing, etc.• Hydro acoustic raw data from field measurements will be:

• Incorporated under standardized format into WSC’s computing environment.• Discharge computations will be:

• Re-appropriated and performed by WSC personnel from raw hydro acoustic data incorporated under standardized format into WSC’s computing environment;

• Associated with uncertainty quantifications;• Made available to calibrate and validate discharge estimation models such as stage-

discharge curves and others;• In the specific case of ADVM-equipped stations, discharge computation will be performed

through an Index Velocity Toolbox incorporated into WSC’s computing environment.

Page 12 – 23-4-21

2012-2013 HATWG Priorities

Task Id Task

1.2 Test and recommend acceptance of technology for specific conditions (ex.:M9/RiverRay, StreamPro for .3 to 1.5m, etc). As part of project define minimum blanking distances for each configuration.

2.1 Evaluate discrete panel computation software, hardware and procedures for open water and ice-cover environments

5.1 Improve QAP process for hydro acoustics

11.2 Contribute to T&M documentation wrt flow under ice

11.3 Standards Update for Hydro-acoustic Applications: review, update & adapt USGS T&M to WSC's reality

4.5 Integration of hydro acoustic raw data into WSC’s computing environment

4.6 Integrate and manage ADVM data production within HWS

5.8 Develop an instrument quality control program (periodic testing and maintenance) +Assess options for towtank testing of various hydroacoustic instruments

8.1 Training actualization for Hydro-acoustic Applications

10.2 Life Cycle Management planning

10.3 Establish a snapshot of WSC's regional and HQ hydroacoustic instrument use

6.4 Development of a decision matrix (Predict the efficacity of Index Rating, minimal suspended sediment content, SNR, etc)

4.2 Adopt a method to quantify ADCP measurement uncertainty

4.8 Develop Post Field Checking and Approval Procedures for Hydro Acoustic Measurement

Page 13 – 23-4-21

• Areas for WSC-USGS collaborative work• Specs for processing ADVM data• Specs to integrate raw ADCP data in the computing

environment (move from binary files to data)• Standardization of Q computations, Extraction of X-section

profiles• Error estimation from raw ADCP data• Instrument quality control program: validation and calibration • Flow under ice measurements and data production procedures

to incorporate in T&Ms• Modify USGS T&M for WSC adoption• Development of WSC’s data dissemination à la USGS Water

Watch (current streamflow, floods, droughts & runoff)

• HA support group in Québec region

We’re not alone !

Page 14 – 23-4-21

Questions ?Questions ?