You are on page 1of 24

-

I , - AO—AO38 282 COASTAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTER FORT BELVOIR VA


~~~

F/S 1.4/3 1
STILLING WELl. DESIGN FOR ACCURATE WATER LEVEL MEASUREMENT. (U)
JAN V W N scais
UNCLASSIFIED CERC—TP— T 7—2

I
-

~~~~~~ I
it

-
;:
10 :~ j~2.8 L5
_ _ _ _
~~

IIi
I I.’ ~
I
l lI=!~=
1 1 ’1 .25
~~~ WH
~
M!CR000PY RESOLUTION T EST CHAR T
\A ~N6 ~ ~~~~
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

/ ) TP 77~2

Stilling Well Design for


Accurate Water Level Measureme nt

W illiam N. Seelig

TECHNICAL PAPER NO. 77-2


JANUARY 1977

DDC

TApproved for public release;


I distribution unlimited. J
~
U.S. AR MY, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
8 COASTAL ENOINEERIN 6
RESEAR C H CENTER
Kingman Building
Fort Belvoir , Va. 22060
Reprint or republication of any of this material shall give appropriate
credi t to the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering Research Center.

Limited free distribution within the United States of single copies of


this publication has been made by this Center. Additional copies are
available from:

National Technical Information Service


ATTN: Op erations Division
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield , Virginia 22151

The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official


Department of the Army position unless so designated by other
authorized documents .

~~CUU

Ii

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _ _ _
F’

~~~~~ - - - - ______________—
_ _ _ _
— -~~~~~~~~ -~ - --—
_ _ —_ —_
_—-- _ - _ - “_ - =-_z—_=n.~~ =~~ r_ .
_ _ _
-.
~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~~~ ~~

UNCLASSIFIED
SECUR ITY CLASSIF ICATION OF THIS PAGE (ITh.ti Dat a Xnt.r.d)

DE DADT f l f l t I U A E I J T A T I A h I DA I E READ INSTR UC TI ONS

1 REPORT NUMBER
“ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“‘ .‘ --f 2.

eO ,T ASC~~9$ION NO
BEFORE COMPLET IN G FORM
3. R E C I P I E N T ’ S C A T A L O G NUMB ER
~~ /- ~
/ -1 :- .... - -:—
TP 77-2 — ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~, / — -.

::
~~~ -

.i. . ..~~
-
L,I I ~~~~~~~~~~~~ L W— S. OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED
~~~~ ~ —

STILLING WELL QES IGN FOR ACCURATE WATER LEVEL


iTechn .cal Paper
.
- .
u .. U L I ILI 1
i
~’ ~
IL
~ 6~. fR,pRl uN4 e*G. REpoRT NUMBER
_______________________

7. AUTHOR( s ) ~~
B. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMB ER( .)
-

iiiam N. Seeli g
f
9. PERFORMING O R G A N I Z A T I O N NAM E AND ADDRESS 10. PROG RAM ELEMENT . PROJECT , TASK
AREA & WORK UNIT NUMBERS
Dep a rtmen t of the Army
Coas tal Eng i n e e r i n g Research Center (CERRE-CS)
Kingman Building, Fort Belvoir , Virginia 22060 A31220
I I. CONTROLLING OFFICE NAME AND ADDRESS 9. We,e~ ,—~ * rW ~~
Depar tmen t of the Army / Jan~~~~ 3977
,~
.
;

Coas t al Eng ineer ing Research Cen t er ¶1


— UR OF PAGES
22060/, ) 21/
~~~~~
~~•

Kingman Building, Fort Belvoir, Virg in ia


I.~~ M O N I T O R I N G A G E N C Y N A M E A ADDRE$S(II dill.rm. t from Controlling OUic.~ ¶5. - URITY CLASS. (of thu r.pert)

UNCLASSIFIED
ISa . DECLASSIFICATION/DOWNGRADING
SCH EDU L E

16. DISTRIBUTION S T A T E M E N T (of title Report)

Approved for public release; dis tribution unlimited .

17. DISTRIB UT ION S T A T E M E N T (of it. abetted .nt.r.d ‘it Block 20. lt dll.,anf from Report)

IS . S U P P L E M E N T A R Y N O T E S

:- J: :;
&~,
19. K E Y W O R D S (Conlino . on ,•catae aId. if n.c.a.a.)’ ,d ident ity by block numb er)

Long waves St i l l i n g well Wa ter level m easuremen t

20 A S S* ACT (Cc.,tInu . a., ,.v•re• aid. if n.c..Wy a.td identify by block n. b.t)

A me thod is presented for the design of stilling wells based on the


work by Noye ‘(l 974a, 1974b , 1974c). A step-by-step procedure is out-
lined , desi gn curves are presented , and an example is given to illustrate
the procedure .

DO U73 EDITION Or 1 NOV 65 IS OSSOLWT I


~~~~~~~ UNCLASSIFIED
SECURITY CLA S$IFICATI O N OF TWIS PA G E ( .
n bate Bnt.rsd)
~~
I
r

- *
- ’

.ffi ~ CEDIJG P1t~Z BLA 1 -NOTf


i IJ
~ ~~

PREFACE

Thi s repor t prov ides coas tal engineers w ith a me thod for design ing
stilling wells to accurately measure coastal water level fluctuations ,
based on the theoretical and laboratory work of Noye (1974a , 1974b ,
1974c). The work was carried Out under the coastal structures program
• of the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC) .

The repor t was prepared by W il i am N. Seel ig, Research Hydraulic


Engineer , Coas tal Structures B ranch , under the general supe rv i s ion of
Dr. R.M. Sorensen , Chief , Coastal Structures Branch .

Comments on this publication are invited .

Approved for publication in accordance w ith Publi c Law 166, 79 th


Congress , approved 31 July 1945 , as supplemented by Public Law 172, 88th
Congress , approved 7 November 1963.

ILi1
~~ -~~
/LOHN H. COUSINS
--

~~Colonel , Corps of Engineers


Commander and Director

I
I


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- u.

~~~~~~

~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ •- - •.-- - -— --—
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~

CONTENTS
Page
CONVERSION FACTORS , U.S. CUSTOMARY TO METRIC (SI) S

I INTRODUCTION 7

I LINEAR DAMPING STILLING WELLS 7

I DESIGN OF THE WATER LEVEL RECORDER 15

IV A SAMPLE DESIGN 16

V CONCLUSION 18

LITERATURE CITED 21

FIGURES

1 Approxi mate distribu tion of ocean surface wave energy ill ustr ating
the classifica ti on of s urface waves 8

2 The linear stilling well 9

3 Response ch arac ter is tics of a i


l near s ti l ing well 12

4 Theoreti cal linear s ti l ing well desi gn t o ob t a in 90 per ce nt of


a 1-hour wave 13

5 i ing well des ign t o dampe n 95 per cen t of


Theore t ical linear s tl
a 10-second wave 14

6 Amplitude response of the Pentwater stilling well predicted


from the dra inage test 17

7 Pen twa t er wa t er levels , November 1974 19

8 Spectra of water levels for Pentwater Lake , Mich igan , for

r
November 1974 20

4
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

CONVERSION FACTORS , U. S. CUSTOMARY TO METRIC (SI)


UNiTS OF MEASUREMENT

LS. customary units of measurement used in this report can be converted to metric (SI)
units as follows:

Multi p ly by To obtain
inches 25.4 millimeters
2.54 centimeters
square inches 6.452 square centimeters
cubic inches 16.39 cubic centimeters
feet 30.48 centimeters
0.3048 meters
square feet 0.0929 squ are meterst
cubic feet 0.0283 cubic me~ers4 ’
yards 0.9144 meters
square yar ds 0.836 squ are meters
cubic yards 0.7646 cubic meters
m iles 1.6093 kilometers
square milr s 259.0 hectares
knots i 1.8532 kilometers per h our
acres 0.4047 hectares
foot-poun ds 1.3558 newton meters
millihars 1.0197 X iO~~ kilograms per square centimeter
ounces 28.35 grams
pounds 453.6 grams
0.4536 kilograms
ton , long 1.0 160 metri c tons
ton , short 0.9072 metric tons
degrees (angle) 0. 1745 radians
Fah renheit degrees 5/9 Celsius degrees or Kelvins ’

To obtain ( elsj IiI (C) temperature readings from Fahrenheit (F) readings, use formula: C = (5/9) (F — 32).
lu obtain Kelvin (K) readings. use formula: K = (5/9) (F — 32) + 273.15.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - •~~~~• • , • _ _ _ _ _ _
PRECEDIIG PAGE S
-- - —.

. -

~
——-—-—----
~~~~~~ 1~

STILLING WELL DESIGN FOR ACCURATE WATER LEVEL MEASUREMENT

Willicon N. Seeli g
I. INTRODUCTION
Coastal eng ineers and scientists have a frequent need for accurate
measurements of long-period water level fluctuations (periods longer than
about 5 minutes). Important long waves may include astronomical or meteor-
olog ical tides , se ich ing of lakes and harbors , and tsunamis. The approxi-
mate distribution of ocean surface waves is shown in Figure 1.
A problem in measuring water level has bet that the long-period wave
of interest , the signal, is often of much sn.~ ‘ ‘ amplitude than the short-
-

period wind waves that act as noise. For example , on the Great Lakes a
seiche important to inlet hydraulics may have an amplitude on the order of
0.1 foot , while wind waves may be several feet hi gh. In this type of
situation where the signal-to-noise ratio is small , a carefully desi gned
system is needed to dampen or eliminate noise while recording the important
long waves.
This paper presents a method of designing a water level recording
system for accurately measuring w~ ter level fluctuations of interest by
dampening or eliminating undesirable short-period fluctuations . The unique
aspect of this desi gn is that water level fluctuations inside the well are
linearly related to fluctuations outside the well , so no nonlinear :ater
~
level amplifications occur .
The linear stilling well desi gn presented requires that the well be
free from fouling . Even a small piece of debris in the orifice will dis-
rupt the response characteristics of the well , so this type of well is
recommended for short-term operation in clear water areas.

II. LINEAR DAMPING ST I L L I N G WELLS

Noye (l974a) , using laboratory tests , showed that the conventiona l


stilling well , consisting of a well and orifice , will respond to a broad
spectrum of waves and a response of this type may confuse the record of
interest. Cross (1968) reported that this type of well system may intro-
duce hi gher harmonics of waves into the well and that wind waves , through
nonlinear effects , can cause a net displacement of the mean water level
inside the well as compared with the mean water level outside the well.
A recommended stilling well system for accurately measuring l ong waves
is the linear damping stilling well which has a pipe or tube as an orifice
(Fig. 2) (Noye , l 974b , l974c). This system can be desi gned to record the
important long waves and eliminate undesirable noise.
A disadvantage of the system is the critical diameter of the intake
p ipe. Dirt or other foreign matter entering the pipe will disrupt cali-
brated response characteristics. For this reason , the intake to the well
should be carefully sited , preferably in an area where fouling will not
affect the operation of the w e l l .

.-
~~~~~~~ -~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -

[ TT {t” i I
~~
1 2 1
0.
I
I~~
iv
U
I
I
ii
.— .
,
~

I ’-’I i ~~
l I
ml . 1 ~~
Cl
— r—’t— t - - - - ~i I~
0 I• ’ t I ~i~i
~ Il I
I _I- I
0D1 .0 0
~~ —
~~~~~ -E~~ I
k--- .~.

T I
W I I
1 > 1 0
I Q
I I I
.
, 1
1 0. I > 1

h1
I 0
D I

~~
c~~~~
IE

I
~~ i
iT
I

I
-J
i

O D.
(I

La..
o~~
~~~~~~
C) -.
i
~~ u o
~~
I l u I
u’ Iv ,
5) W~~~~
i U
. 1 I—~
o I D I I 0
I I
, I
0
I —

~
I; i ‘I sa I
a. i~~~~
5) l~~o
~~~~~~~ lu. I
!
0
t~~~~ 1~~ I
-
. .c~
I
..J I .
.
~o
I~~ I

I
.

0 1 0’
5, .I.o_--. .
i E ~~ ~~
I0 I
CD I ~~~
-4- -- i - - - —
I C
~~~
~~-
~~ ~~ ~
I I
V~~~ I
~~ I
I , I
I~~~~~ i c~~
1g ~~ ~~~I
2
L1 -i.~-
~
- - -~~ I
I I I (aID3S ~(J 0 4 4 ! q J V )
( )~ biau j
c ~~
~
0
~~~~~~~~~
L._~ ..i~~~~~~~~~~~~
L_ . . .J
~

.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
~ - - - - - - - -—- - - - -~~~~~~~ - - -~~~~~~~~~ •~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . --- ~~~~~~~ -- ----- - •-••- --- . - -~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recorder
d~ Wat er Depth of Orifice
L I D~~ Inside Diameter of Orifice Pipe
D lns ide Well Diameter
~~
L~~~Len ~ th of Pi~ e

Stilling Well

Li
Float
— --
~ ~~~~
W ater Level
to be Measured

D
Orifice Pipe
~1
Bottom L— Lp
Sealed

Figure 2. The linear stilling well.

9
I;

-___~~~~~~ ..c~~~_~.-~ .~ ’~±m ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I_ _ ~~~~~~ —— _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


r - - - -

~~~~~~~
-

~~~~~~~
-- - -

~~~~~~~

The well is especially usefu l for short-term operations in measuring


harbor response to long-wave forcing and long-wave conditions outside the
h arbo r . On the Great Lakes , forced pumping mode oscillations near or
longer than the natural pump ing mode (“Helmholtz mode°) of the inlet-harbor
system are generally the most important in producing reversing inlet cur-
rents and harbor oscillations . If the gage is to be placed in a harbor
and the geometry of the harbor and inlets are known , a f ormu la can be used
to pred ict the Hel mho lt z per iod (Seel ig and Sor en sen , 1976) or a simple
numerical model can be used to show which long waves will be important to
the harbor (Se el ig , Harris , and H erchenrode r , 1976) . Typ ical He lmhol tz
periods for Great Lakes harbors range from 10 minutes to S hours . Once
these potentially important periods have been determined , the stilling
well system and recorder can be designed to record the waves .

The linear stilling well consists of two basic components : (a) A well
of inside diameter , Dw , wh ich provides the stillwater leve l to be meas-
ured ; and (b) an orifice consisting of a pipe of leng th , Lp~ and inside
diameter , D~ . Bo th the w ell and p ipe should be smooth and free of ob-
structions . Common materials are plastic or metal.

The bottom of the well is sealed so that the water can only enter the
w e l l through the orifice pipe. F r i c t i o n in the pipe due to laminar flow ,
in conjunction with the continuity of flow between the small orifice pipe
and the relativly larger well , determines how the stilling well will
respond to long-wave forcing.

The variables that can be changed in well desi gn are the diameter of
the well , the diameter and length of the intake pipe , and the depth of
the orifice pipe entrance below the water level. Noye (1974b , 1974c)
has theoretically and experimentally shown that two dimensionless param-
eters and N) can be used to design a linear stilling well. is a
dimensionless frequency; N describes the amplitude modulation and phase
lag of the long wave inside the well as compared with the wave outside the
well. The parameters are given by Noye as:
128 ~~ Ln Dw 2
g D ~~ ( 1)

and
/32 V L~ Dw 2\ 2~
(2)
g D ~ ’~
~

~~~~~~
where

V = the kinematic viscosity of water (about l0~~ feet squared per


second)
= the p ipe length (fee t )

Dw = the inside diameter of the well (feet )

10

—~ ------ . -
~~ .‘ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~,
.
- --- - -- ---— -
— ------— ------- - -- -
g = the accelera tion of grav it y ( 32.2 fee t per seco nd squar ed)

= the inside diame t er of the o rif i ce pipe (fee t )

T = the wave period (seconds).

The theoretical dimensionless response characteristics of the linear


stilling well as functions of N and 82 are shown in Fi gure 3. It is
frequently best to design a well with a value of N greater than 5 because
the well ca n be tes ted us ing a drainage tes t to determine the ac tual
re sponse charac te ris tics of the well (Noye , l974b). Wells with a value of
N less than 5 are more d i f f icul t to test . A val ue of N = 0. 33 g ives the
sharpes t dis tinc t ion be tween m eas ured and dampened waves ; however , this
type of well is difficult to build of common materials and even more dif-
ficult to test. It is desirable to have 0 < 82 < 0.4 for the long-period
waves to be measured so that the long-wave amplitude in the well is approx-
imately equal to the long-wave amplitude outside the well (Fi g. 3). A t
the same time the value of 82 should be 10 or greater for the short-
peri od w ind wave s and other no i se for these t o be thorough l y dampened by
the well.

Simplifying equations (1) arid (2) :

3.975 X 1o 10 J~ D~ 2
N = (3)

and

6.244 X l0~~ (4)



82

= ~~~
Dp T
for Engl ish units .

Solv ing fo r the length of pipe in feet , Lp~ fro m equation (4) :
L4 T
82 D
= 0.160 X lO~ (5)
Dw 2

The theore tical length of p ipe as f unctions of the ins ide pipe d i ameter
and the well di amater is given in Figure 4. This des i gn is for 90 percen t
of the forcing wave with a period of 1 hour measured by the well. Since
i s linearly rela t ed to pe ri od fro m equati on (5) , the p ipe leng th fr om
Figure 4 can be mul tiplied by the period (in hours) to es timate L~ re-
q ui red for waves o ther than 1 hour . To ob t ain 95 per cent or m o re of a
1-hour wave , reduce the p ipe leng th in Figure 4 by about one-half.

If the period of the important long waves is unknown , an al terna t e


method of w e l l desi gn is to dampen w ind waves and record any longer per iod
waves. Curves desi gned to dampen 95 percent of the amplitude of a 10-
second wave are pres ented in F igure 5. The p ipe leng th can also be

~
~ -

~ .O 1 1 11111 1 I 11 111 I

51
0
____
— _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ic
—_ _ _ _ _ _‘ I _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _

I i
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __________

005

1.5
/
~
,,
\ ~\~~o.o
5)
l.C
‘I

~~~
~~~~~~~~~
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
-~~~~~
~~~ ~~

0.33-
_ _ _ _ _

\~~~‘ \~ ‘\.
~~~~~~~

o I I I I I
~~~~~~~
..
~~~‘1M 4
-

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

0.1 0.4 1.0 4.0 10 40


Dimensionless Freq. (/3 2 )

7’7 I I I l i ii
.e. —
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
N O.O5 ,~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
~~~~
/ /
/ N --~~~
0 . lO /
- 37r/4 /- /
g~
_ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

~
i f N:O.33 ,
/ N:5.O

1 ,/
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


‘ ~~ , N l.O
/
~
/
/ / / “
Cd

-
~~~
7T/2 — ____

I I 11111 I I 11111 I I
0.1 0.4 .0 4.0 10 40
Dimensionless Freq . ( ,S2)

Fi gure 3. Response characteristics of a linear stillin g well


(after Noye , l974b).

-- - --i
_ __ _ ._-__ __ —~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.- ---- -
-~~~ - . ----~~~~ ,-

D (m)
020 025 030 ~ 0.35 0.40 0.45
I I I
lpOo _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -

800
600

400

a 00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Or
/ 59
I

-20
° 2
_ _

~~~ ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(
3/i
20 -
—6
~~~~~~~~~Or ~~~9
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

10 _ _ _ _ _ _
-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-2
6 _ -

~~ 0

2
io.5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
0.60 080 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60
D~ ( f t )

Fi gu re -1. Th eoreti c - i l l i n e a r s t i l l i n g w e l l de si gn t o o b t a i n 90 P e r ce n t
of a 1-hou r n a v e .

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______ _ _ -_
-- _ _
-
F
- - - - - - - - - - -— ---- ---. — ------ -.
- . --------—---------- --.---
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- .— .-
~~~

O (m)
~~
0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45
I I I I
100 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

- 0.5

0.60 0.80 1.00 i.ao 1. 40 1.60


D (ft )
~

Fi gure 5. Theoretical linear stilling well design to dampen 95 percent


-
of a 10-second wave .

‘4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--~~~~~
-. .
~~~~~~ ~
.
.- ;- ---——- —-- - -- -. -

multiplied by the period (in seconds) and divided by 10 to estimate L~


required for other than 10-second waves . The recorded long waves of inter-
est can then be corrected for the particular well damping that occurred.

The drainage test is recommended to determine the actual hydraulic


characteristics of a well desi gned to measure a specific long wave. If
the alternate well desi gn is used , a drainage test is unnecessary . The
drainage test should be conducted after the stillin g well and its com-
ponents are assembled , bu t befo r e the w e l l is ins ta l l e d . To perfo rm th i s
test , partially fill the well and allow it to drain until the flow stops .
Close off the orifice , then fill the well with a head of water , El (in
feet), above the or i f ic e p ipe leve l of approximately:

8000 V 2 Lp 2.48 X lO 7 ±p
H = = (6)
g D~ 3 D~ 3
but not hi gher , to assure laminar flow throughout the system . Tests by
Noye (1974b) show that the time constant of the well , T0, is the time
that it takes for the head inside the well to fall to 0.37 (37 percent)
of it’ s initial head , U .

One way of de ter min ing when 37 percen t of the head h as been los t is
by measuring the volume of water coming out of the orifice pipe with a
premeasured bucket or beaker. The value of T0 is then used to deter-
mine the amplitude response , a2 (well ariplitude divided by forc ing
amplitude) , of the well from :

a2 =

(7)
(2n bo)
~~ l.0 +
and the phase lag fro m :
f2r_To\
= arctan
~
T ) ( 8)

In building a well , first determine the theoretical orifice p ipe length ,


then build the well with a longer pipe length. Test the well several time s ,
using the drainage test to determine the actual hydraulic characteristics
of th e well. If the well dampens too much of the important waves , cu t off
some of the orifice pipe and re-run the drainage test until the desired
response characteristics are obtained.
The draina c ’~ test can be run at any time during the life of the well
to determine if corrosion or other fouling has impa ired the func ti on of
the well.

III. DE S IGN OF THE WATER LEVEL RECORDER

Care must he taken to select a leve l recorder compatible with the


stilling well and the waves to be measured . For economic reasons , it is

IS

-,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - S. -- -- - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . -----——
- -
—S.--— ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - -S-.-- — - ---- , - - - —
— .-——- -—‘- — -,—- -

,
~~

generally best to select a standard unit. A number of types with different


options are available.

If a di gi t al recorder is chosen , the sample rate should be such that


at least 15 to 30 data points are taken over each important long-wave
peri od. The level resolution should be less than one-tenth the long-wave
hei ght. Because a di git al reco rder makes only an i ns tantaneo u s m eas ure ment
at each sampling interval , it is e s p e c i a l l y impor tan t to des ign the still-
ing well to eliminate hi gh-frequency or short-peri od noise.

An analog recorder should have a chart speed fast enough so each impor-
tant l ong wave is lon g enough on the chart for an easy and accurate meas-
urement . However , too fas t a speed for long time per iods w il l lead to large
volumes of paper and frequent maintenance checks to replace the chart paper.
The hei gh t sc ale should adeq uate ly reco rd the impor tan t waves and sti l l
all ow sufficient space at the top and bottom of the chart paper to record
any extreme events which may occur . Some recorders offer a reversing pen
when the chart paper width is exceeded . Analog recorders are available
with either strip charts or drums . Strip charts are best for long-term
opera ti on ; drum s may be used for a shor t opera ti on on the orde r of 1 day .
Be cau se ana log recorders record the wat er lev e l con tinuou sly , some wa ter
level fluctuations shorter in period than those of interest can be allowed
to propagate into the well and this noise can be eliminated when di gitiz-
ing or analyzing the data.

IV. A SAMPLE DESIGN

The des ign of a stilling well at Pentwater , Michigan , i s cons ider ed in


measuring long-period waves potentially important to inlet hydraulics. A
study of the Pentwater harbor indicates that waves with periods of between
1 to 2 hours w i l l cause the largest reversing currents in the inlet
(Seelig, Harris , and Her chenrod er , 1976). Observation of the inlet also
rev ealed th at the wa ter revers als hav e a per iod of ab out 1 . 5 hours. F igure
4 shows that a well with Dw = 0.83 foot (10 inches) and an orifice pipe
of D = 0.0208 foot (0.25 inch) should have an L~ of about 7 feet to
~
rec o~rd 90 percent of a wave period , I = 1 hour , and about 11 feet for
T = 1.5 hours . The well was constructed with an intake pipe length of 20
feet and several drainage tests were run . As predicted , the drainage test
showed that this length dampened too much of the waves in the 1- to 2-hour
range . The plastic orifice pipe was then cut back after several tries to
a length of 15 feet . The drainage test showed that this well had a time
constant , T~ = 500 seconds ; this well was selected for the final design .
The pred i c t ed response charac t eristic s of the w e l
l from eq u at ion (7) are
shown in F igure 6.
Note that for wind waves with a period of 10 seconds (0.003 hour) the
amplitude response is 0.0003 which means that only 0.03 percent of wind-
wave amplitudes are propagated into the well.

16

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-. ..
~~~~~~~~~
—- -- ~~~
- - —- -- — ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
——S.- - — , ..- — -.- - —
- - -
- -
- 5 , —
- - - -
— -- —-

‘. 0-
0.9 -

0.8 -

0.7 -

0.6 -
a 2 0.5 -

0.4 -

0.3 -

0.2 -

0j -
I I I L I I I I I I
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Forcing Wove Period (h)
Fi gure 6. Amplit ude resp onse of the Pentwa te r s ti l ing well
predicted from the drainage test.

[7

~~~~~~~ .gL ...... . S


~ ~~~~~~~ -.
-.. - -—-
-
.-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - —- — - -
r -

A further method of reducing wind -wave effects on the record inside


the w e l l is to put the or if ice as deep as p o s s i b l e . As depth increases
wave dynamic pressure attenuation increases and the wind waves become less
not iceable. However , the orifice should not be put too close to the bottom
whe re clo gging may occ ur.

The recorder for this system was a di gital recorder with a sampling
interval of 5 minutes and a sampling height resolution of 0.01 foot . The
float was 5 inches in diameter.

Figures 7 and 8 are examples of records and spectral analysis of


records of water levels obtained at Pentwater , using this well. Note that
several lon g waves are present simultaneously in the harbor at various
periods of about 1 hour or longer. From Figure 6, 85 percent or more of
the wave amplitudes are recorded and the particular percentages at each
period can be used to obtain final amplitude va lues of the spectral com-
ponents of interest.

V. CONCLUSION

A linear stilling well is recommended where accurate measurements of


water leve l fluctuations are required and short-period noise must be
dampened .

18
- --- -
_ _
—- — .--- . - . S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -~~~ ‘ -- -,-
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

—0.25 - 3 Nov

0.25 -

0.25

0~~\j VY\PV\ 1\IV~~1~~


-

—025 — 5 P4ov

I I I I I I I
0 4 8 12 6 20 24
Time (h)

Fi gure 7. Pentwater water levels , November 1974.

‘9

— -. . . . m~ - -~~
-~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - ~~
-
Sp ect ral
4_ .- Pea ks Period (i~)
5)
U
C
a

a
>
3Nov (0000h)

4Nov (1800h)

3 2 1.5 1.0
Wov e Pe ri o d ( h )

1.9 ‘. 4

11
~~~
! 1 \
I 1~ II\~
i3 4 Nov (1800-h )
to
I IV
\ 1U\
~
6 No v ( 1300h )

z
3 2 1.5 1.0
Wave Period (h)
~~~
Fi gure 8. Spectra of water levels for Pentwater Lake , Michi gan ,
for November 1974.

20

‘ .
-
~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ - ~ --~‘
~~~~~~ -
‘.
-~~-~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
~

LITERATURE CITED

CROSS , R . U . , “Tide Gage Frequency Response ,” Journal of’ the Waterways a’-id
ooi’ooro Division , Vol. 94 , No. 3, Aug. 1968, pp. 317-330.

NOYE , B .J . , “Tide-well Systems I: Some Non-linear Effects of the Conven-


t ional Tide Well ,” Journa l .~f Marine Research , Vol. 32, No. 2 , May 1974a ,
pp. 129-154.

NOYE , B .J. , “Tide-well Systems II: The Frequency Response of a Linear


Tide-well System ,” J curn ~z l of’ Marine Research , Vol. 32 , N o . 2 , May l 974b ,
pp. 155-181.

NOYE , B.J. , “Tide-well Systems III: Improved Interpretation of Tide-well


Records ,” Jour na l of ’ .‘-1ar ~~ e .~eoearc~h , Vol. 32 , No. 3 , May l974c ,
pp. 183-194.

SEELIG , ~ .N. , and SOREN SEN , R . M . , “Hydraulics of Great Lakes Inlets ,”


draft report , U.S. Army , Corps of Eng ineers , Coas tal Eng ineering
Research Center , Fort Belvoir , Va . , in preparation, 1977.

SEELIG , W.N ., HARRIS D.L., and FIE RCUENRODER , B., “A Spatially Integrated
Numerical Model of Inlet Hydraulics ,” draft report , U.S. Army , Corps
of Eng ineers , Coastal Engineering Research Center , Fort Belvoir , \‘a.,
in preparation , 1977 .

21

_.__ i :’t
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ --~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~
-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
~
- . -
.

—5— . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ — .
~
_i- - -—- — ..-. - ----- - --.- —--S’-S5-..- - ---— - ——
v
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

F’-. -c
- Is 4)4) 0 NI 110 Is 0 0 11 4) ‘~
~
—. 1 1 4 0 1.4) ~
1 4. -0 > 7 4 0 I s 0 9 . -~
11 7 > 4)14 .C s s 41 4 1 1 1 411.
.0. ’-’ 1. 54 U t - — I. 0,
I” 1. ‘0~~0 -.l .4 1
“- s O ~
- 4 1 4 ) 4 0 7 I s 0 45 4, 114 4151
1) 40
~ I V 1 4 4) 4, 40 1 7) 1 4 1 1
.511 F~~~ 0 1 0 ‘4 4 ) ~. 7 ‘4
1 1” 51 .4)1. 4141) 7 --. 00 .7 . 1 . 5 4
11 0. 4 1 5 1 11 4).
1. 41 .7 4 ) 1 1 ~4 1. 0)
.1) Is — C.. — 1) IL 1. — 4).
1~ . 4 0 ) 4). Is Is 011 .—l C.) ~~~CI.
41 In.~~~4
5 . .I 0 I s E 1. 14 41.4 4) 4 1 I s 4 )
.n 5 4 11 > 1 1 0 ‘-‘ 5.~ 1 54 11 >56 7 ‘-‘ 0.
1 1 1 -— . 1 < 4 ) 1 4 1 4 •)< 41)6
1, t. 17 5 1 1 . 4) > 4 .) 1.5 (4 40 4.0 1. 0 1111,
4) 11.0 1.140 ‘11 4)44 4) 11.7 0 4 0
4) .-, , 0 4)) — , 11 —
40 ‘ —u ~~~~ C s S $
I s O
40
— ‘__ I) 1.4) 41 — 41
14 0 41 5-4 1 1 . 14 -.4 ..s t . ..i
IS.
* .7’
7 )15 Is Is IJI 4) 0.1 1. 4140 SI . 1 ) 6 4 ) 5 1 1.

.
s . £ .., . j. 14 14 ç 0


4 4) C.
~ 11. 40 ‘C 154 11 4)

-
71 14 3 0 11
Is 41 ._ 4) 5. 0
C 441 .54 4 1” 0 0
Is .4) ( . 400 .4 . ‘0
0 (‘4 5.4.
4) 1 4 . .
1 1 1 4 -‘~ ~- - I- -
5. -. 4

>50 >4
.
5 1 0 7 7 10

jr— / 0s 1 C) 41) IF-- I. C—


OF ’ 4.0 5 4 Is~~~~ 00 4 4, 004
-
l I s I ‘.
~~~ - .- 7 I s $5, I

Is . F4 4 1 0 I. 4 1 . 4)1 4
., 1 1 > 0 .Z .7 . t . 0 0
I s > - _ L - 5~~~
.1 — Is 7 Is . LI 7. 0. Is .S Is —
Is. F~ . 54 IF.
50 4, 50 /5 4 0) (4
0. Is 41 . 40 0. . 1 ’ 41
Is 0 11 — In 04 4). Is 41 — 1. Is IL (/1 Cs
— ‘.4 0/41 — Is 4 1 1 4 — 11-. 4 1 4 1 — . . Is
. -Is 50 •> ‘0 s, t4 .. i.. It . 4 , . 77 .4711-i
~~~~~ 0 1) . ‘ 0 7 I s 4 . . 0)
C. - . ‘ 0 1 4 1 4 4 4)
1 . 40
114. . —. 4 ) 1 7 4 1 3 . . N. 54 0 1 . . .. 0 1 01) 3 . . N. ‘4
S.C N. 4) NI Is N. 41 0 14 N. 40 r . 41 (54 Is F-. 1. 0 1. N. 1’.
I N . .7 C10” 14 .0) -— I N~. .4) 0 7 5.
11 04 7 . — c 0. NI .5 . 1 04 5.
5, .— 0. 0. /5 01 Is 0 . 41 . — 0) Cs 1. ~—‘ 00 Is C
.7 0 5.C H 4. s. 4) 0 4 ) 14 0 4 0 .. 4. 41 4 1 0
.4 •~~~~S I s l J ICI .Z .415
s 4 1 I
I . 4)4
_ . 4 _ CS >. 4J Is IS Is 4) .. .5 1. 0. 4 1 - 0 1 . 1 —
. ‘ -. 1. 0 t 4 1 . 0 54 ‘ - 4 0 4 1 . .. s 1.. Ct 4 1 . 4 . .
4 4 1 I s . . . Z n
I Z .. I >
5.. 4 1 I s . . . 4 1 .Z 114 0, 4.4 4.4 0.. -— 5) NI . —
— 3 . 5 0 0 , C.. .4 ~~ Is 5 4 5 $ — 5 4 > 4 7 ~~~~~ . 4 0. ~4 ($ 54 7
4, s N. 14 >. ‘O 50 :0 0. — 1) .4 N. ~t 1. ‘~O 14 4
. 1..
-— It . LI N. Is .0 0. I s -— S.C • 0 F - Is ‘0 .7 4, Is
4114 .. 00 0’- 0 0 . ~~ lIZ .‘ ~ 5 C 0 0 . 51C~~~~~ ” I C
‘4 — .. 0 .41 .4 “4 /5~ 4) 41 14 -— •. 0 . 7 .4 1 4) 41 ‘7
-
--. I s I s. - l 0 0 - ’ Is • — . 9 ~7 . -— . . .I s 7 0 1 1 C
SC _4 7 I s 0 _ Is .-l - 0 _ , _ _J _5 .4 510 •••4 C0 I s 0 .I 4 — ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
~ .511 “4 - ..
. ..4 7 0 .7. 4 ) 1 1 0 ’-’ --. 11 —
-— - . 7 4 1 . 0 E 0 0 ’ -~
— Is — NI Is -— 0 •..4 • H 7 0 Is — 4.. NI Is -— C . . . H .7 0
F-) F.. 114 — INI C 40 C 41 54 Is IN
4. .55 — 1. NI 4) 40 441 1/ II
.4., 71
-.. t 0. .41 14 0 .4) LI C. -.4 0. 4) ‘ 4 5 4 0
415 4 ’4 LI I s5 4 I s —. 1-. E 11. 340 1.) ..‘ . I s H I—

Is C N. 7. 4) N.
SC Is 7 . 7 7 0 NI 4.4. Is 0 4 1 0 41 IN
0 1 . 4 . 4 ) . .40 14 0 1 . 0 ) 0 . .4)
11 0 4
5.) 4 1 > 4 1 1 .
41 7 > 41)4 . 0” 4
Is 1 t t - 4 ’ 1. 0) Is It ‘ 0 t .4 I s I s
41 4, 0 5 0 05 ) ‘... SJ 0) 0 5 . 500 7 I s
41 1
1 CI.) .54) 4.) 40 1 1 -. / 0
1 0 1 14 4 1 1 4 4 ) 1 40 1 . 7 0 .
01 .7 Is ..4 4,41) 4)-s $0 .0 1 . - s 0) LI
14
4) 5.4. 0 CO

— —
1. 514. 4) Cs
4) .4 1. 4, .7 9 4) s4 1.
Cs
4,
I 7.
Is 57 Is — Cs — 7. 0) 10 1.
Is 1. 0 4 , C s Is
Is 1. “ C ) 0.
41 0 I s 4 ) 1 7 41— 04) 4 1 I ~~~
s 1 7
s4 Ft 0 4 1 - .
1 7 C : 0 . 1 14 ~- ‘ 0
5.1 50 11. 4) > 0 ) 0 5 6 40 ‘4 1 . 4, > 4 1
4 ,40

4)


0 .7 14,40


NI 4)14 IN


4 1 1 11 41.0
O 1) -~ 4 . 4 ) — 0 00 -- . 1 7
17 C.. 14 510 N. LI 0.. Ft SC
I s O N. 41 — C. I
s 7 F--.
41 — (4 ~~~~
5 +5 ’ 0
. 4 4 , ...l > • 0
> ~~ Is
411)4 Is I s I S O I s I s . 41 5/4 Is I s ,I t ‘-‘
—. . I In 4 1441 0 .51 W Ft In 50 7 4) C
4 4) = 40 : 7 4 1 4)
Is 0 - .- . 0 Is 0 — 0(
41- . 0) 0 ‘0 . . .. 0 ) . . 4J 0 0
1. 1 7
. 4 , Is ~~~4)
C 1 4. . 0 . - I s C
1/5 4.1 1) 0 50 1 1 1 4 5/5 5 . 4 . 1 1 7 57
-- ‘ -1 4,• •
5. 0. 11’. 1
0—’ C) Il I n N . / 0 ’’
-
4 , 0 4 4 )
4 0 . 4 . 0. 04 4.) 04.7
7 5. ‘ 0 . S.4 Is
1 11 44 I ‘ 0 I s
0.
C L I . I ss 4 S. 1) 6
7 0 Is 7 . 4111 0 0 1. 0 41 11
7 . > 0) .7 .4) 1) 0 5)> 0) ‘ 4 .0 0 0 4 1
C.. I s . 1 4 Is . LI I ss ’ 0. I s s 4 5. • LI
‘( 1. 14 I 1 4 4 1 (4 N . I O II. I
In 7.. IsO, 0. • 40 0. 5. 01 0)
Is 0 I n I s 14054 4). 5. 0~~~~~~/ 1 . 14 01) 0.
4 1 I s — 51. 0 ) 4 1 — . . SI 3 1 4 .—l 5. 4 ) 4 1 — . Is
_5
1._ I s 14 .> ‘0 . 4 N I .. “4 1 . (4 ~~~> 0 ‘ = F’ ) .5
41 11 O F O I s O 4) I 40 0 U . ‘ 0 1 4 1 . 0) 0 I
F 1 1 4 1 . . - -1 — 4 1 . 5 4 1 1 1 3 . . 4.. IF 0 0.. .5 4 4 1 . 5 4 1 1 4 3 •• F-. 1’
40 F-- C IN Is (5. 7) 0 /, N. 00 N. 4) (N Is N. 7) 0 14 F-. 41)
4
‘ I F - . .7 4)0’ Is . 4) -.4 I N . . 0 7 0’ 0. . 41
7. 7’ 5) . F.) 4) 0. NI -.4 . (0 07 V • 11) — 4) 0. NI
11 . — n J 0. 1’.’ O C I s O • 4) P 5 4 4 1 0. )6~~~5 1 5 7 14 0
0SC H 0 5 4 4 1 4 10 14 ‘ 0 4 0 1-4 0) - 7 0 0 7
14 ~ -.4 ‘51 Is 0 10 .0 • .57 .s( ~_S •• 1. 0) 1 .0 • 054
C. . ‘. “ I s O >. 0 1 I s
~~ O t
1 . 14 9
(4
4.4
—1 04) 4)
1.
.... 4 1 ,.
0. 2 0) 14
0 0
In.
4)
Is
•4 )
50 4 , 7 • .. ‘.>, 4 1 . 04)
0)
- -4 ~~~~
4 1 4 1 Is 1N .0 ZZ 0) > .-4 0. .4 0) 0 I s . NI .4) 4 ) 17 > 1-4 11-
-11 • I s 44 s.. 4 ...4 > 0 4 4) 0. 54 .51 14 .-I ll
04) 54 N. (0
0.
— 4, .5 N. 14 > , 0 14 4 4). ~~4 >.t 4 0.
IL • LI N. 1. ‘0 .0’ 0) 1 . 54 0 . 41)
4 N. 5. ‘0 .4) 4) Is
:7 1114 .. 40 41 4 ) 1 4 ~~~~~~ ‘-‘ 3 oz .. 00 0 4 ) 1 4
.0 .0 ‘ .~~~~..1 14 4 ) 0 1 ‘4 = •.0 . 4 )0 4.. 4 I n ) 4 1 1 4
4
— 4 ) 4 1 . 54 I s 1 4 ’ 4 7 0-4 11 00
. . . . (E Q ~~~~
. - 4 1 4 1 4 0 .0.- .4
..4 I sS . 4 7
4 ) 01 4’ - ’
0 . 4 0
..) Is —0
SC .. ‘ 4s IC O I s .’ 4 4 ) 3 1 4.F .0 I s . 4
F ~1
54 .~~~
.- ‘4 4.1.0 4) 3 41 -.411 444 ‘4 .~. 5 I n 4 ) 41.0
I s . ’ 4 4) I ’ 1 I s 5 4
1 4 > 4 1. 4
Os
. 44 )
. 1- 4 ’4 0
— I s . 4 4 , N I I s I n 04 0 .~~ . 4 . 7 0
St. — 1. NI 4) 40 ‘C 4) — LI NI 4) 0/5 50 4) NI 4) 40 ‘C 0) — U NI
. 4 , 41) 4) s441 4) . 0 / 50 •45 0
4, --‘ C)
O 4 0
0)
LI
.4 ) 1 0
Is ..4 Sl 5 4H 1-. (/5 340 41) 5 1 . 4 5 1 .—. -.
~~
I—.

_ &7.s ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~ ~ ~~~ - -.5 ~~~~~ -. 5 S ._ _
~~~

You might also like