Development of Acoustic Doppler Aquatic Animal Monitoring (ADAAM) for application to marine life movement in high-energy tidal channels

Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) are a standard tool used for measuring ocean currents. Acoustic pulses are transmitted from up to 5 beams (each with a different orientation) and the Doppler shift of the backscatter return is used to calculate the current flow velocities.  Each beam can also be used as a separate ‘fish-finder,’ however the signals from fish are typically treated as noise.  Research to date has shown these rejected noise signals contain valuable biological data.  This project will test and validate the use of ADCPs as a new tool to detect and monitor fish.