Can wave direction be measured from an AUV?

AUVs on survey missions in coastal environments provide platforms of opportunity for making directional wave observations. However, there are several complications that arise when wave observations are made from a moving platform. One of these is a Doppler shift in the dispersion relation, which causes correctable distortion in the observed directional wave spectrum. A modified triplet algorithm is described that corrects for platform motion by subtracting bottom-track velocity. The Doppler distortion effect and the algorithm are illustrated using data taken using an ADCP on a moving platform.