Deployment of Oceanographic Instruments in High-Energy Environments and Near Structures

describes methods and techniques for acquiring measurements of waves, currents and suspended sediment from high-energy wave and current environments. The case study described herein involved measurements obtained in proximity to a large jettied inlet. Two techniques are described: a. Deployment of instrumented platforms in a high-energy surf zone. b. Deployment and recovery of instrumented tripods near a submerged structure using a Sikorsky HH-60J “Jayhawk ” helicopter. BACKGROUND: High-quality field measurements are an integral part of the design process for new and existing coastal engineering projects. A key to success in modeling is a field measurement program to obtain as much information as possible about key input parameters and especially model output parameters. Calibration and verification data assist in reducing uncertainty of model output so that final results become practically useful, quantitative approximations. Carefully collected, high-resolution field measurements yield valuable insights to aid in the interpretation of processes active in a project area. One of the major challenges in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, is to obtain field measurement