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Fieldwork at Blackpool Sands |
Fieldwork took place in Blackpool Sands (Devon) with the aid of staff from the Brixham Environmental Laboratory. The water velocities in the bay were measured to try to discover the expected circulation.
Blackpool Sands is located in Start Bay, near Dartmouth, Devon.
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Velocities were measured using an Accoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) mounted on a rigid inflatable boat (RIB).
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An ADCP is used to find the water velocity throughout the water column. It emits an accoustic pulse called a ping. Particles in suspension scatter the energy and reflect some of it back to the ADCP. This return signal exhibits the Doppler effect which is used to calculate the water velocity. The ADCP used here was an RD Instruments Sentinel Workhorse.
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The expected circulation was measured in the bay! This plot shows the RIB's path in the bay and the measured velocity vectors:
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Using a program called Surfer, the data was interpolated onto a grid. The coastline has also been added to this plot:
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