The use of hydroacoustic current meters to measure the flow of Georgia streams

Hydroacoustic current meters use the Doppler effect to measure the velocity of suspended sediment par-ticles in water, which can then be used as a measure of the water velocity. Along with measured cross-sectional area, these measured water velocities are used to compute the discharge of a stream. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Georgia District has recently implemented the use of hydroacoustic current meters to measure the discharge of streams throughout Georgia. Hydroacoustic current meters have many advantages over conventional current meters, such as measuring discharge in a timelier and more efficient manner and measuring discharge during unsteady conditions. These advantages allow the USGS Georgia District to measure the discharge at sites that could not have been measured with the use of conventional cur-rent meters. Hydroacoustic current meters also can be used for other applications, such as using acoustic back-scatter as a surrogate for suspended sediment concentration.Sponsored by: Georgia Environmental Protection Division U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science Center U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute The University of Georgia, Water Resources Facult