Doppler effect: devices, results, manufacturers, acceleration of engineering surveys

Geographers from Lomonosov Moscow State University have proved the effectiveness of using Doppler meters of water flow velocity in rivers. Such sort of devices are installed on a vessel or at the bottom of a water body. They send ultrasonic signals into the water and catch the sounds reflected from solid particles suspended in the water. Due to the Doppler effect, the velocity and direction of movement of the water with these particles are determined. In a short time, it is possible to aquire lots of data in an automated mode and to use them in hydrology, ecology, and construction. The obtained data surpass the results of traditional methods of measuring the velocity of water flow (for example, using hydrological current meters, the operation of which is based on a mechanical measurement method). In Russia, Doppler profilographs have been still a rarity. At the webinar “Doppler Technologies in Hydrology”, Vsevolod Moreido, the head of the Hydroinformatics Laboratory (Institute of Water Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences) and a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Riverbed Processes (Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University), told about using such kind of devices. This article tells about the essence of the Doppler effect, about the difference between the methods of installing a profilograph at the bottom of a water body and on a moving vessel, about manufacturers of acoustic Doppler profilographs, about their pros and cons and about actions in order to satisfying the demand for such measuring equipment produced by Russian manufacturers.