Three-Dimensional Visualization of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Data in the Missouri River Basin

Acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) have long been used on the Missouri River basin to measure physical habitat for species such as the endangered pallid sturgeon. One potential application of ADCP data is to characterize the turbulent hydraulics encountered by drifting sturgeon free embryos. The transition from drifting free embryo to exogenously feeding larvae has been identified as a potential life-stage bottleneck for the pallid sturgeon, and the location where this transition occurs is largely a function of spawning location and channel hydraulics. Our understanding of drift distance in the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers currently comes primarily from hydrodynamic models. These models are informed by and calibrated to field measurements, such as ADCP data, at varying locations and discharges. Insights from these models may be supplemented by three-dimensional visualizations of flow vectors measured by ADCPs, which would help to illustrate temporal and spatial variation in flow patterns and structures. We developed tools using Python and the open-source visualization package Paraview to read and visualize ADCP data from multiple sampling dates and locations on the Missouri River. These visualizations will help to improve the understanding of drift, retention, and settling processes for pallid sturgeon in the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers.