Ice Measurements in Cook Inlet, Alaska with an Acoustic Doppler Profiler

Ice conditions were measured in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska using Acoustic Doppler Profilers with an innovative data analysis method. PND Engineers, Inc., deployed three bottom-mounted upward-looking Nortek Acoustic Wave and Current (AWAC) profilers near Iniskin Bay. The instruments were configured to collect current profiles and wave data alternating with experimental “diagnostic” water-ice interface profiles. Analyzing these measurements together with the surface current velocity time series and assumed ice block shape allows estimation of the ice block size, mass, and velocity. Descriptions of the instrumentation and data processing are presented in this paper. This mission was the first application of this recently developed technique for ice measurements in Cook Inlet’s harsh environment.