Stormwater Detention Pond Low-Velocity Measurements
The SonTek/YSI Argonaut-ADV, which uses our ADV technology, can
precisely measure flows from 0.01 to 7.0 ft/s in water as shallow as ONE INCH!
Argonaut-ADV
The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) deployed an
Argonaut-ADV in a submerged culvert to monitor discharge into a stormwater detention pond.
The Argonaut-ADV was chosen for this job because it can precisely measure flows from 0.01 to 7.0 ft/s in water as shallow as ONE INCH! During the past few months, Southwestern
Florida has been experiencing severe drought conditions. As a result, there have been
little or no detectable discharges into the SWFWMD stormwater pond for a significant
period of time.
After installing the Argonaut-ADV in the inlet culvert, velocity data revealed that
during the day, small flows (about 0.02 to 0.04 ft/s) were going into the pond most likely
as a result of the stormwater system equalizing from normal lake evaporation. When the
velocity data was plotted with the pond level, it could be seen that during the day when
the water-level dropped the fastest (due to evaporation), the velocity measured by the
Argonaut-ADV would increase from 0 ft/s to about 0.03 to 0.04 ft/s. This is a good example
of how the Argonaut-ADV can be used to measure extremely low flows in a hydrologic
application.
Details about this SonTek/YSI product can be found at:
