Technical Means and Methods for Studying the Fine Structure of a Water Flow using Video Registration

The article discusses developed technical means and methods allowing to obtain in situ spatial distribution of velocity of suspended particle movement by a water flow. A brief description is given of the developed measuring complex based on video recording of the aquatic environment. The method of performing full-scale experiments by the example of study of sea estuaries is described. The article presents measurement results and examples of spatial distributions of flow velocities required for solving various problems related to mass transfer, coast erosion and silting of water areas. Analysis of expedition research results obtained using the developed complex allowed to create methodical approaches to assess the current state of a water body and informative parameters of its state using a visualization method. Based on the created methods, data on the fine structure of the flow in the Chernaya River estuary area were obtained. Comparison of the averaged data on the water flow velocity with the measurement results obtained through standard technical means, namely a hydrometric current meter, showed minimal discrepancies not exceeding 11 %. The developed method and technical means make it possible to study the water flow dynamics and to describe the flow fine structure, which is necessary for studying the mechanisms of erosion, sediment accumulation and transport.