School of Earth and Environment

Measurement & Data Acquisition:

 

    • A 2-component DANTEC fibre-optic laser Doppler anemometry system (LDA).

      • A 2-component DANTEC Phase Doppler anemometry facility (PDA).
        • A Three 3D DANTEC particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) systems operating at rates of 15, 100 and 4000Hz).
          • A FLIR high-speed thermal imaging camera that can operate at up to 750Hz and resolve temperature differences to 0.08C.
            • A twelve-probe ultrasonic velocity profiler (UDVP), which thought the addition of two further systems, and an additional 60 probes, now cover a range of frequencies from 0.5-4MHz.
              • Three systems of ultrasonic bed profilers to resolve bed height to within +/-0.01mm.
                • A 4-channel constant temperature anemometry system (CTA) equipped with 3 steel-clad probes that provide mean flow measurements at a low (~1Hz) resolution.
                  • A Bohlin C-VOR rheometer with temperature control unit and capacity to operate under controlled shear rate and controlled shear stress modes, and with both creep and oscillation capabilities.
                    • Malvern Mastersizer 2000E grainsizer: this laser diffraction–based instrument can measure particle size distributions over the grainsize range 0.1 to 1000 microns.
                      • A four-electrode high-resolution conductivity microprobe (Precision Measurement Engineering Inc.), which can operate at up to 800 Hz, allowing measurement of both fluid density and turbulence parameters.
                        • An array of Ultrasonic High Concentration Meters (UHCM) for the measurement of concentration profiles in fluids with sediment concentrations up to 40% by volume.
                          • Optical backscatter probes (OBS) in both forward looking mode (OBS3M) and side-looking remotely deployable mode (OBS5), and a micro-OBS for smaller-scale experiments, for concentration measurement in low concentration fluids.
                            • A sand ripple profiling sonar for high temporal and spatial resolution measurement of bedforms across a swath.
                              • SeaTek ultrasonic ranging system with 16 transducers for 2D and 3D bed profiling.
                                • Near infra-red laser ranging systems for measurement of surface topography in both subaerial and subaqueous settings.
                                  • A variety of allied equipment for flow measurement including pressure transducers, micro-current meters and a Leica hand-held refractometer.
                                    • A variety of allied equipment for concentration measurement including siphons and associated peristaltic pump, and a purpose built calibration rig for the OBS and UHCM instruments.
                                      • PC-based automated video image-capture suite. Additionally, allied equipment for flow visualisation, notably laser light sheet, fluorescent lighting, high-intensity laboratory spotlights and dye injectors are also present.
                                        • A variety of digital image capture devices including three SONY DCR VX-1000 digital video cameras that allow real-time long-exposure (streakline) visualisation in a range of flows. As well as some of the latest DSLR cameras for high quality stills images and High Definition video
                                          • The SEFDL possesses its own intranet for the distributed processing of PIV data and back-up of data via a 7TB backup rack.