Doppler velocimeter for monitoring groundwater flow

Abstract

Groundwater velocity and direction of flow are determined by insertion into borehole below the water table of a sound source and a plurality of sound sensors. A periodic sound signal is emitted by the sound source, which is submerged in groundwater at the bottom of the borehole. The sound signals are sensed by the sound sensors, which are also submerged in the water in the vicinity of the sound source. Owing to the Doppler effect, there is a shift in the frequency of the sound signals observed by the different sound sensors. The differences in frequency are determined by pulse counters and used to compute the components of groundwater velocity along north-south and east-west axes. The velocity of groundwater flow and its direction are determined by vector addition of the groundwater velocity components. These computational processes are carried out by an appropriately programmed microprocessor.