Implementation of new hydroacoustic technologies in a national operational hydrometric monitoring program : Water Survey of Canada’s HydroAcoustic Technical Working Group Jean-François Cantin & André Bouchard Hydrologie et Écohydraulique Service Météorologique du Canada CWRA conference, Banff (AB), June 2012

Page 2 – 14 janvier 2016 About the Water Survey of Canada Started in 1908, with a federal government allocation of $10,000 –“The first appropriation made by Parliament for hydrographic work was in 1908… …. as this vote was not available until the season was too far advanced, only a part of it was used in purchasing equipment in 1909” –“In Organizing the Hydrographic Surveys, it was realized with the funds available, it would be impossible to make complete investigations of the whole water supply” First published data :“Report of Progress of Streamflow for Calendar Year, 1909” by P.M. Sauder, Chief Hydrographer Spent two years in Montana with USGS

Page 3 – 14 janvier 2016 Stations F=Federal (EC) P=Provincial T=Territory –Federal (F) – 604 –F/P(T) –P(T) – 947 –3 rd Party –Contributing – 301 –TOTAL The Network

Page 4 – 14 janvier 2016 Distribution of published discharge Source : Hydat Most of the Q data (59.3%) are below 10 m 3 /s Although Canada is known for large rivers, the bulk of our work is in smaller rivers A challenge for estimating Q !

Page 5 – 14 janvier 2016 About WSC For almost all of the past 100 years, our primary velocity measurement instrument has been mechanical current meters – the Price AA and the Pygmy meter – and all of our performance standards, procedures, methodologies have been based on that technology and its known limitations, and safety hazards.

Page 6 – 14 janvier 2016 History of HydroAcoustics at WSC In the 1980’s : AFFRA systems In late 1980’s/early 1990’s, WSC joined the USGS in investigating the use of acoustic Doppler technology in riverine environments. Early results showed that these units had the potential to become another tool in the streamflow gauging arsenal: –Portable, could be used in many streams, drastically reduced the time to obtain a measurement, could reduce operational costs related to obtaining a measurement and could mitigate health and safety issues But they were large physically, and expensive –WSC bought its first Broadband ADCPs in 1994, for ~ $80K each Early uses included: –Special surveys of the St. Lawrence River to calibrate hydrodynamic models, and to characterize the tidal cycle at Quebec City through measurements done every ½ hour, which could not be done with traditional technology –Flow patterns and bathymetric surveys in northern rivers –Flow patterns past a beach in a river bay to determine the daily health of the beach

Page 7 – 14 janvier 2016 Instrument Use Comparison - National Results 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Year % Of Measurements Taken Price AA 94%92%85%69% ADCP 4%5%7%6% Flowtracker 1%2%8%25% Total Hydroacoustic 6%8%15%31% Non-Moving Parts Society Evolution of hydroacoustic use

Page 8 – 14 janvier 2016 Where Are We Today? WSC has accepted for operational use: –TRDI RioGrande ADCP’s –TRDI StreamPro’s –Sontek Flowtrackers –OceanScience tethered and remote control boats –Hornet remote control bank operated cableways –Various GPS systems for positioning –Various ship-to-shore telecommunication systems –Moving boat and section-by-section software

Page 9 – 14 janvier 2016 Documentation of ADCP Procedures

Page 10 – 14 janvier 2016 Lots of work yet to do !!! This is where HATWG comes in Enhancement of instrument functionality and application –Shallower streams, wading, moving boat vs in-situ (ADVM), reduction in size Modernization of software –DOS to Windows; section-by-section, QA/QC of results –Ensure proper data management Transmission of data from instrument to computer –Rats nest of wires for batteries, modems, ship-to-shore Determination of position of instrument, especially related to water’s edge –GPS, range finders Moving bed conditions Deployment platforms –Tethered boats, remote control boats, remote control cableways, pitch & roll impacts Developing next generation technology –One instrument for all conditions - S5,M9, RiverRay Development & documentation of new standards, techniques, operating procedures, training –Training - Instrument operation, theory of acoustic doppler, accreditation –Assess & define operational limitations (velocity, turbulence, suspended sediment) Data integrity between traditional and hydroacoustic technologies –Impact of new technologies on product quality

Page 11 – 14 janvier 2016 WSC’s long term vision for HA use All hydro acoustic instruments and ancillary tools used by the WSC will be: Approved; Tested for calibration to asses the proper functioning and life-cycle managed as per the quality control program schedule; Methods, procedures and techniques will be: Approved, adopted, disseminated in the WSC and updated as necessary. Hydro acoustic training will be: Inclusive of hydro acoustic instruments, ancillary tools, methods, procedures and techniques, updated as necessary and oncorporated into the APTP-H for new recruits and provided to the work force for actualization purposes; Hydro acoustic training will be: Provided with the most efficient combination of face-to-face situations, documentation, videos, webex sessions, video & teleconferencing, etc. Hydro acoustic raw data from field measurements will be: Incorporated under standardized format into WSC’s computing environment. Discharge computations will be: Re-appropriated and performed by WSC personnel from raw hydro acoustic data incorporated under standardized format into WSC’s computing environment; Associated with uncertainty quantifications; Made available to calibrate and validate discharge estimation models such as stage- discharge curves and others; In the specific case of ADVM-equipped stations, discharge computation will be performed through an Index Velocity Toolbox incorporated into WSC’s computing environment.

Page 12 – 14 janvier HATWG Priorities Task IdTask 1.2Test and recommend acceptance of technology for specific conditions (ex.:M9/RiverRay, StreamPro for.3 to 1.5m, etc). As part of project define minimum blanking distances for each configuration. 2.1Evaluate discrete panel computation software, hardware and procedures for open water and ice-cover environments 5.1Improve QAP process for hydro acoustics 11.2Contribute to T&M documentation wrt flow under ice 11.3Standards Update for Hydro-acoustic Applications: review, update & adapt USGS T&M to WSC's reality 4.5Integration of hydro acoustic raw data into WSC’s computing environment 4.6Integrate and manage ADVM data production within HWS 5.8Develop an instrument quality control program (periodic testing and maintenance) +Assess options for towtank testing of various hydroacoustic instruments 8.1Training actualization for Hydro-acoustic Applications 10.2Life Cycle Management planning 10.3Establish a snapshot of WSC's regional and HQ hydroacoustic instrument use 6.4Development of a decision matrix (Predict the efficacity of Index Rating, minimal suspended sediment content, SNR, etc) 4.2Adopt a method to quantify ADCP measurement uncertainty 4.8Develop Post Field Checking and Approval Procedures for Hydro Acoustic Measurement

Page 13 – 14 janvier 2016 Areas for WSC-USGS collaborative work Specs for processing ADVM data Specs to integrate raw ADCP data in the computing environment (move from binary files to data) Standardization of Q computations, Extraction of X-section profiles Error estimation from raw ADCP data Instrument quality control program: validation and calibration Flow under ice measurements and data production procedures to incorporate in T&Ms Modify USGS T&M for WSC adoption Development of WSC’s data dissemination à la USGS Water Watch (current streamflow, floods, droughts & runoff) HA support group in Québec region We’re not alone !

Page 14 – 14 janvier 2016 Questions ?