Winriver II
4) Open up Winriver II and first configure the peripherals
- ADCP - configure the com port (usually COM1 for direct serial cable connect Rio Grande) and bluetooth for the streampro. Often for streampro it is COM40 or so (check the bluetooth manager). Always use 115.2 K baud rate for both the streampro and Rio Grande. You may need to manually program the Rio Grande (in BBTalk) to be 115K baud rate as well (upon first receiving the instrument). Test the port to make sure it is working.
- GPS - if using GPS you need to specify the correct COM port for GPS. Test the port to make sure it is working. Novatel uses baud rate of 38.4K.
- You should test the port to make sure winriver can communicate with the ADCP and GPS. If you get a blank screen communications are not working properly. Check the NMEA string to see that GPS is differential: RTK (5) or WAAS (9) w/ the Novatel GPSs. If you have a (1), you have no GPS, if you have a (2) you have GPS but no differential (RTK or WAAS) correction. RTK is necessary on smaller streams (less than 20 m). WAAS is acceptable on large rivers, but may not be as good on smaller rivers.
5) WinRiver II set up:
a) Select File --> New Measurement.
b) Enter in the Station data (include the date of measurement in the station name) and click next
c) Enter in any known rating information and click next (not nessesary)
d) in the configuration of devices, Winriver II will attempt to talk to the ADCP and should automatically detect it (wait a few seconds)
e) in configuration, If using GPS, check the associated buttons.
f) in the Offsets, enter in the transducer depth (m), this is the distance from the transducer bottom to the water surface. Note that you should align the transducer heads in line with the bottom of the float, beam 3 forward (Rio Grande) or at a 45 degree (Streampro - see arrow on tranducer head for proper direction). It is important that if you are using a streampro the beam 3 is properly aligned, particularly in relation to the blue comm box, where the compass is located. It must be oriented as it is on the trimaran, beam 3 at a 45 degree offset from forward. The blue comm box must face exactly forward.
g) enter the magnetic variation at your location (required for compass/GPS). You can look this up online (IGRF) http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/#declination if you have the coordinates of your site.
h) Use the default cell size and number of cells if possible, and then enter the max water depth and velocity. Try to get your max depth estimate correct so that the bin sizes are not too large or so that you do not underestimate the max depth (it will not measure below that depth). The max boat speed should always be equal to or less than the water velocity when making the measurement. The maximum water depth is 6 meters w/ Streampro. if your bins are too big (overestimating the depth) you should adjust down. If your bins are too small and your data is noisy, then adjust the depth or max velocity accordingly.
i) enter the water mode, which is always mode 12 for streampro and almost always mode 12 auto or custom for Rio Grande. Use bottom mode 7 for shallow streams w/ Rio Grande.
j) in the recording section, write down the file name prefix, which should be the Station Name and Location and the date of msmst: Example: KadleroshilikR_pipeline_06June2009
Also check the "Long (YY-MM-DD hhmmss)" in the Use Date/Time in Filename section.
6) Next step is to conduct the following required QA/QC tests:
a) Set ADCP clock to the laptop time and it MUST BE ON AK STANDARD TIME. Change your laptop to standard time.
b) Conduct the ADCP test (diagnostic test). Write down in your notes if any tests fail and if they do, try again. Test should be conducted in non-moving water.
c) Conduct a compass calibration and evaluation if the instrument has a compass and you will do a loop test (the streampro will have a compass as of May 1, 2010). Compass calibration and evaluation should be less than 2 degrees, and better yet, less than 1 degree. If not, try again, and keep trying until less than 2 degrees.
d) Conduct a Moving bed test. REQUIRED if there is no compass/GPS or your GPS isn't working properly. It is good practice to do this for every measurement so you can correct the data for a moving bed (moving bed materials also include very fine sediments and organic materials). It is best to do a loop test (i.e go across the river and then come back to the exact same location where you started). But if you can't maintain bottom tracking, just do a stationary test for 5-10 minutes in several locations across the river. If you have a moving bed, it will appear as if the boat is moving upstream. Use the USGS LC or SMBA test to correct (within winriver).
7) You are ready to begin the measurement and so press F4 Start Pinging. Make sure you have two depth cells (or two good bins) before you start the measurement.
8) Once you have 2 good bins, press F5 or Start Transect. Measure the distance from the bank to the starting location where you have 2 good bins with a laser rangefinder. Inside this edge area, the discharge will will be estimated by the software. Make a note of the channel geometry for these purposes, is it square or triangular? Wait for 10 ensembles, then proceed slowly across the river.
During unsteady flow conditions a miniumim of Four transects are required and must be within 5% of the mean discharge. If you cannot make the 5%, continue to do additional transects. It may be necessary to do your transect diagonally downstream if the velocities are very fast. The key making a measurement is to move the boat slowly (and a good measurement reach)! Boat velocity should always be less than the water velocity. If conditions are steady you can do 2 transects but the total time must be 720 seconds.
9) At the stopping location (where there are still 2 good bins) hold the boat position for 10 ensembles w/ 2 good bins. To stop the transect press F5 again or Stop Transect. Measure the distance from the ADCP to the bank and enter it in the computer. Then begin the next transect by pressing F5/Start Transect.
10) Press F12 to see the discharge measurement summary.
11) You can switch between bottom track and GGA (GPS) and VTG (GPS) by pressing cntrl-G or cntrl-B or cntrl-V.
13) To see all three tracks (GGA-GPS, VTG-GPS, and bottom track) go to view - graphs - ship tracks - ship track. Then you can see your tracks. Hopefully they all generally line up. If not you probably have a beam 3 misalignment so make a note of where beam 3 is located (and the streampro power/comm blue box) and we can correct it.
14) Keep an eye on the "aquire control" window in the bottom right hand corner. It will tell you in red if something isn't right (i.e. ADCP status NOT PINGING or Raw Data NOT RECORDING or GPS VALID or NOT USED). Keep a close watch on that. keep an eye on number of good bins. You must have 2.
15) iF using blue tooth communications, keep the bluetooth settings window open to make sure you are connected to the instrument (Streampro or GPS bluetooth radio).