Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler accuracy and precision assessment method based on hypothesis test

Experiences over the last decade measuring current profiles with Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) have demonstrated significant capabilities. This paper briefly analyzed the main error sources of the Doppler profiles, and demonstrated that the measured precision can be quantified as the standard deviation of the horizontal error velocity. On this basis, a measurement quality assessment method based on hypothesis test including one part for velocity accuracy and the other for the velocity precision is proposed. With the intercomparsion tests of two ADCPs on mooring shelves and subsurface buoy in South China Sea, the objectivity and effectiveness of the proposed assessment method is analyzed, and the accuracy and precision of the specific Doppler profile's velocity is assessed.