Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry (ADV) in a Small Estuarine System. Field Experience and "Despiking"

Estuarine mixing and dispersion are turbulent processes. Present understanding of estuary turbulence remains however limited, partly because long-duration studies of turbulent properties are difficult and rare. Herein, some long-duration turbulence data recorded at high frequency using acoustic Doppler velocimetry (ADV) are analysed. The data sets were collected in a small sub-tropical estuary. A new ADV data post-processing technique is developed for turbulence analysis of estuarine flows. The results show that acoustic Doppler velocimetry data cannot be used without suitable post-processing. Even classical "despiking" techniques are not simply applicable to natural unsteady estuary flows