The Adriatic Circulation Experiment Winter 2002/2003 Mooring Data Report:: A Case Study in ADCP Data Processing

We present a case study of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) data processing for long-term coastal deployments, using data collected by the Naval Research Laboratory and the NATO Undersea Research Centre from 14 trawl-resistant bottom moorings (BARNYs) during winter 2002/2003 across the northern Adriatic Sea. New methods were developed to maximize data quality and quantity. The data were truncated moving with the sea surface instead of using a constant level. An objective method based on horizontal velocity noise was developed for quality control of data using the ADCP error velocities. Tests were developed to reject fish-echo-contaminated data from an ADCP in which the fish-detection algorithm had been disabled. Spurious linear compass drifts were identified and corrected. In summary, this report documents the complete preparation of velocity, velocity error, temperature, pressure, echo intensity, surface wave, and salinity datasets from the ADCP's and wave/tide gauges in the main Adriatic Circulation Experiment. Prepared in collaboration with the NATO Undersea Research Centre, La Spezia, Italy and the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI. The original document contains color images.