New SEDbed frame sounds out sediments

The latest acoustic instruments for probing sediment processes were recently deployed by NOC engineers and scientists in the Dee estuary on the new frame SEDbed (Sediment Experiments on Dynamics and bedforms).

The SEDbed frame has been developed in support of the EU HYDRALAB-IV programme and houses instrumentation for measuring ripples on the seabed, suspended sediments and flow. This deployment follows the successful completion of field trials for the new NOC Acoustic Doppler Velocity Profiler.

Team leader Peter Thorne, working with colleagues Dr Ben Moate, Dr Paul Bell, and Richard Cooke – and supported by David Jones and Ocean Technology & Engineering (OTE) – are using the suite of instruments, based on sound with optics, to visualise the dynamic interactions of sediments at the water-bed interface.

For the past two decades Peter has championed the development of acoustic techniques for delivering new insights into the physics of sediment transport.