Open AccessA method for Doppler acoustic measurement of black smoker flow fields
Author(s) -
Jackson Darrell R.,
Jones Christopher D.,
Rona Peter A.,
Bemis Karen G.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.928
H-Index - 136
ISSN - 1525-2027
DOI - 10.1029/2003gc000509
Subject(s) - plume , geology , ridge , sonar , doppler effect , acoustic doppler current profiler , flow (mathematics) , current (fluid) , acoustic doppler velocimetry , noise (video) , field (mathematics) , signal (programming language) , geodesy , vector field , acoustics , geophysics , meteorology , mechanics , physics , laser doppler velocimetry , oceanography , programming language , medicine , paleontology , blood flow , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science , pure mathematics , astronomy , image (mathematics)
A method is developed for using multibeam sonar to map the flow velocity field of black smoker plumes. The method is used to obtain two‐dimensional cross‐sectional maps of vertical velocity, but is capable of mapping velocity in three dimensions. This is in contrast to conventional current meters, which measure only at several points and acoustic Doppler current profilers, whose diverging beams cannot readily map the interior of a plume. Geometric corrections are used to estimate the vertical component of velocity, compensating for ambient current. The method is demonstrated using data from the main plume at the Grotto vent complex in the Main Endeavour Field, Juan de Fuca Ridge, and the errors due to noise, signal fluctuations, and fluctuations in plume structure are estimated.