INTERCOMPARISON OF AN ACOUSTIC DOPPLER CURRENT PROFILER WITH CYCLESONDES IN KNIGHT INLET, BRITISH-COLUMBIA

Data from a 150-kHz vessel-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler ( ADCP) were compared with those obtained from four cyclesondes moored c oncurrently in Knight Inlet, British Columbia, during the period 26 Ju ne to 20 July 1989. The observed correlation between the two instrumen ts was typically 0.87 for depths between 21 and 125 m. The root mean-s quare (rms) error of a 5-min ADCP ensemble was estimated to be <3.9 cm s-1. A simple model of the barotropic tide was used to quantitatively assess 1500 vertically averaged ADCP profiles sampled over the length of Knight Inlet. The barotropic component of the ADCP profiles also s howed excellent agreement with the model, with a regression slope of 1 .02, and rms differences of 4.2 cm s-1.