Suspended Sediment Concentration Measurements of Muddy Sediments with an ADV

This paper presents a laboratory study which examines the relationship between suspended sediment concentration and the signal to noise ratio recorded by a Nortek Vectrino Doppler velocimeter for two velocimeter acoustic output power levels. Tests are conduced in a tank with tap water and Kaolin clay for the concentration range of 0.0008 – 2.8 g/L. Results indicated that the velocimeter signal to noise ratio saturates at approximately 10 mg/L for a High power level setting and at 100 mg/L for a Low+ level power setting. For concentrations less than the saturation condition, the signal to noise ratio was found to be proportional to the logarithm of concentration, indicating that the velocimeter is a useful tool for measuring synchronized velocity and suspended sediment concentration time series.