The Kuwait Meteorological and Oceanographic Monitoring System

ABSTRACT A Hydrographic Monitoring System (HMS) for the measurement of near-shore oceanographic data has been installed as part of an effort to provide a hydrographic model for the water immediately adjacent to a large industrial area on the shore of the Arabian Gulf. The Hydrographic Monitoring System consists of eight instrumented towers, fixed to the ocean floor, which telemeter measurements to a shore station, where a network control computer interrogates the instrumented towers, controls the telemetry links, converts the data to engineering units, provides a data edit capability and archives the data on disk and magnetic tape. Each instrumented tower (remote monitor) is battery powered and equipped with a solar charger. The system is designed for automatic operation to minimize the manpower needed for continuous data collection. Each tower is equipped with the following instrumentation:Two current sensorsTwo conductivity sensorsTen subsurface thermistorsA vortex sensing anemometerOne resistive wave staffWater quality sonde to measure dissolved oxygen and pH The monitoring system, including the remote data collector, a transceiver, wave electronics module, power supply and thermistor sensor offers a new approach to hydrographic monitoring In water depths up to 200 feet. INTRODUCTION The Shuaiba Industrial Area in Kuwait is a large complex of power generation and water desalination plants combined with petrochemical industries and a fishery. Multiple intake and discharge ports ingest large volumes of water from the Arabian Gulf for desalination and cooling of the industrial processes, power generation and pumping equipment, and discharge the heated effluent back into the Gulf waters. To plan for expansion of the industrial area, the Shuaiba Area Authority is desirous of obtaining a thermo-hydrographic model of the waters adjacent to the industrial area. A Hydrographic Monitoring System (HMS) was installed starting in November of 1978, with operational use scheduled for the spring of 1979. The parameters measured are wind (speed and direction), waves, water currents (speed and direction), water conductivity and temperature at several depths. Another interest of the Area Authority is water pollution. The system contains dissolved oxygen and pH sensors, and it is anticipated that additional in situ pollution sensors will be utilized as they become available. The depth of water in the area of interest does not exceed twenty meters. Fixed towers are used as measurement platforms in the shallow-water environment, enabling the sensors (in particular the current sensors) to be free from errors typically induced by the motion of surface riding platforms. A description of the HMS tower, the instrumentation, and the test and evaluation program are presented with examples of the test data.