Document Type : Original Research Article
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Water research Institute
2
Assistant Professor, Water Research Institute
3
Assistant Professor, Kitami Institute of Technology, Japan
4
PhD student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
5
Department of Energy, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Science, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran
6
College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Tehran, Iran
7
Department of Computer Engineering, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Prior to the design and installation of tidal stream turbines, a thorough understanding of coastal hydrodynamic parameters, such as power density, is essential. The accurate estimation of current velocity is a key component in power density calculations. Acoustic Tomography (AT), as a robust remote sensing technique, is widely employed to measure currents velocities across various water layers. This methodology relies on recording the travel time of acoustic waves propagating through the water layers, followed by the solution of the associated AT inverse problem. This study conducted a reciprocal sound transmission experiment in the Persian Gulf, employing two 10-kHz Coastal Acoustic Tomography (CAT) stations situated 3 km apart, and submerged 6 meters beneath the water surface. The five-layer structures of the range-averaged current in the vertical section were reconstructed through regularized inversion of the travel time data for two rays. The regularized inversion revealed a maximum velocity of 0.89 m/s within layer 3 (20-30 m depth). Notably, velocity inversion errors across all five layers (1-5) remained negligible, ranging from 0.006 to 0.014 m/s, compared to the observed velocity variation. Further analysis of the velocity histogram indicated that the dominant current speeds at the site fell within the range of 0.1-0.5 m/s, falling short of the standard economic threshold of 1 m/s for tidal energy conversion. These findings demonstrate the potential of CAT to accurately profile coastal current velocities.
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