A new technique for detailed acoustic current profiles in the continental shelf wave bottom boundary layer

High bottom stress levels in the continental shelf wave bottom boundary layer make it of great importance in the study of sediment entrainment and transport. Existing instruments capable of making measurements in the wave boundary layer cannot resolve its full dynamic behavior because they are restricted to single measurement volumes. An acoustic current meter with multiple sample volumes in a geometry designed to resolve the primary scales of flow in the wave bottom boundary layer is described. The capabilities of the proposed instrument are compared to those of existing techniques and a preliminary error analysis is performed.