TCM-3 Deep Water Tilt Current Meter

Tilt Current Meters & Data Loggers

The TCM-3 Deep Water Tilt Current Meter is designed to operate off the continental shelf in water up to 4500m depth. The TCM-3 is constructed from toughened syntactic foam with a titanium pressure housing and is easily deployed by small ROVs.

Lowell Instruments

East Falmouth, MA, US

Description

The TCM-3 Tilt Current Meter records water velocity in an affordable, easyto-use package. The meter designed for use beyond the edge of the continental shelf up to 4500 meters depth. It is easy to deploy with a simple ground anchor from a remotely operated vehicle.

Tilt Current Meters measure current using the drag-tilt principle. The physical design is simple; the meter is buoyant and is secured by a flexible tether to a fixed anchor or tripod. Moving water tilts the logger in the direction of flow. A 3-axis magnetometer and 3-axis accelerometer determine tilt and bearing. The meter also contains a thermistor for recording temperature.

The meter’s electronics are housed in a titanium pressure case with no external sensors. The floatation is derived from toughened syntactic foam. The built-in data logger includes a USB communication interface, a microSD flash memory card, and a long-life lithium battery. Windows® software is used to configure the TCM-3 for deployment and to process data.

The TCM-3 is available at a fraction of the cost of acoustic meters and is simple to setup and deploy. The low total cost permits multiple current meters to be deployed in many locations simultaneously, thereby increasing spatial data density and reducing uncertainty

Specifications

Physical Properties: Housing material

Toughened Syntactic Foam with Titanium pressure housing and Buna 90 Durometer O-ring

Weight in air [kg]

1.29

Length [cm]

77.6

Operating temperature: min. [°C]

-5

Operating temperature: max. [°C]

50

General: Year of latest version

2014

Area of Application

Research, Consulting, Teaching

Field of Use

Fresh Water Lakes, Ponds & Streams, Saltwater Marshes, Irrigation & Aqueducts, Aquaculture, Hydrothermal Vents, Deep Ocean Trenches, Oceanographic Moorings, Lobster Traps

Languages Supported

English

Operating properties: Depth rating [m]

4500

Output data format

CSV

Sampling rate

Current: 64 Hz to 1 sample per hour; Temperature: 1 Hz to 1 sample per hour; Burst Mode - Variable rate logging at user defined interval

Temperature Sensor — Resolution

<0.005°C

Temperature Sensor — Accuracy

0.1°C

Other specifications: Data storage

8 GB SD Card included

Power supply and communication: Output interface {eg. rs232}

USB

Power supply (internal/external with specs)

3.6 V, size “A”, User Replaceable Lithium Battery