Estimating Bias Limit of Moving-Boat ADCP Streamflow Measurements
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 6
Abstract
This paper presents a methodology for estimating the bias limit of moving-boat acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) streamflow measurements based on the classical error analysis techniques. The standard deviation (i.e., one-sigma) of the probability distribution of bias errors is defined as the bias limit. The presented method was applied to two types of data sets, as examples of applications. The first example uses 110 data sets collected in the comparison tests of different ADCP models on a wide variety of rivers and streams, located mostly in the United States. The second example uses 44 data sets collected in an ADCP regatta conducted with different ADCP models on a stream in New Zealand. The estimated bias limits from these data sets should have accounted for most, if not all, unknown and unknowable bias errors encountered in these measurements. The results from this study may be used to determine a nominal bias limit for moving-boat ADCP discharge measurements.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Justin A. Boldt and Kevin A. Oberg of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for sharing the USGS ADCP comparison test data, and Andrew Willsman of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) for sharing the NIWA ADCP regatta data. The author would also like to thank David Mueller of the USGS, who reviewed an earlier version of this paper and provided helpful comments. The author greatly appreciates the three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions that helped improve the quality of this paper.
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Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 6 • June 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 14, 2017
Accepted: Nov 28, 2017
Published online: Mar 28, 2018
Published in print: Jun 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Aug 28, 2018
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