An acoustic doppler current profiler survey of flow velocities in St. Clair River, a connecting channel of the Great Lakes

Acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP) were used to measure flow velocities in St. Clair River during a survey in May and June of 2002, as part of a study to assess the susceptibility of public water intakes to contaminants on the St. Clair-Detroit River Waterway. The survey provides 2.7 million point velocity measurements at 104 cross sections. Sections are spaced about 1,630 ft apart along the river from Port Huron to Algonac, Michigan, a distance of 28.6 miles. Two transects were obtained at each cross section, one in each direction across the river. Along each transect, velocity profiles were obtained 2-4 ft apart. At each velocity profile, average water velocity data were obtained at 1.64 ft intervals of depth. The raw position and velocity data from the ADCP field survey were adjusted for local magnetic anomalies using global positioning system (GPS) measurements at the end points of the transects. The adjusted velocity and ancillary data can be retrieved through the internet and extracted to column-oriented data files.