Our Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Data Processing System, or ADCP Tools for short, is a set of documented MATLAB m-files which convert RDI data to NetCDF format, load the data into MATLAB, process and display the data. Beam to earth rotations can be computed if data was recorded in beam.  Velocity, intensity, % good, and correlation data as well as ancillary data such as temperature and sound speed are available on a beam by bin basis, and as a 3D plot.

The ADCP Toolbox will work for data that has been collected on a fixed platform, (such as a tripod or a mooring) and data that was collected using the self-contained mode. This processing toolbox is ideal for large data sets, or data sets that were collected over a long time period. The ADCP Toolbox accommodates data collected in either BEAM or EARTH coordinates. At this time, the ADCP Toolbox does not work for data collected on a moving vessel using with WinRiver or Transect.

RDI`s software suite for processing and displaying ADCP data is terrific if you are doing work in real time or looking at profiles. For those of us using the ADCP for time series work, RDI has a windows based viewer. But many of us transfer the data to other software packages for plotting, `massaging`, and batch processing. What we offer here is a method of transferring to, working on, and viewing your data in MATLAB.

Attached is a listing of a typical ADCP NetCDF file header. The header file shows how the ADCP data is stored in NetCDF, including the dimensions, variables, attributes, and global attributes. The header file shown here is from the raw NetCDF file created from the Demo ADCP Data.

There are three viewers that have been developed to allow the user to display the ADCP data in NetCDF format. These viewers are the Star* suite of toolboxes developed by the US Geological Survey. Starbeam is used to view the data in non-EPIC format, Starbare is used to edit bad data points, and Starbuck displays the Best Basic Version (BBV) of the data with EPIC variables. Each Star* program is not only a function, but a folder of programs (or toolbox) that are required to run the viewers. These viewers are included in the NetCDF Toolbox, which is required to run the ADCP Toolbox (and if needed WinZip). Detailed information regarding the Star* viewers can be found in the online version of the ADCP Data Processing System Manual.

The ADCP data can also be viewed in a browser called ncbrowser, which is included in the NetCDF Toolbox. Ncbrowser allows the user to easily view the dimensions, variables, and attributes of the ADCP file. Below is an example of the ncbrowser window. Detailed information regarding ncbrowser can be found within MATLAB after the NetCDF Toolbox has been installed, by typing help ncbrowser in the command window.

• View the readme file to review the setup and installation instructions.
• View example of MATLAB startup file.
• View the list of m-files in the ADCP Toolbox. 
• Read the FAQ.
• View the ADCP Data Processing System Manual, USGS Open File #00-458

Prerequisites:

• REQUIRED: MATLAB 5.x, found at the Mathworks
• REQUIRED: The "mexcdf53" Mex-file gateway for your platform
• REQUIRED: The NetCDF Toolbox, a set of m-files for accessing NetCDF.
• REQUIRED: The ADCP Toolbox, a set of m-files for processing RDI ADCP Data.
• WinZip
• RECOMMENDED: The ADCP Data Processing System Manual
• RECOMMENDED: NetCDF (network Common Data Form)

Before downloading:

Please send a message to adcp_tools@usgs.gov (ADCP tools address) if you download this software. Even if you already signed up for the previous version, we would like to know who is using the latest version.  You may also use the address to report bugs and send feedback. If we know who you are, we can let you know when we have fixed bugs! 

A note about your e-mail and privacy: the USGS privacy disclaimer states that we will not distribute your personal information. We collect these e-mails to know a) if it`s worth our time maintaining this site and b) to notify you of updates to the software.

Come and get it!

• Download the ADCP Toolbox ZIP File which contains all the m-files, a demo dataset to test the installation and learn how to use the toolbox, and the ADCP Data Processing System Manual (2.96 MB).
• Click here for a copy of WinZip.
• Or just view the ADCP Data Processing System Manual online.

  Note: The ADCP Toolbox includes an additional m-file called fixEns.m, which is not discussed in the manual. This function was added after the manual was published, and it`s description will be included in the next version of the manual. If you will be using the Batch Processing, be aware that you will need to add a line to the Batch file for the fixEns.m function. See the updated batch example

• These files are tailored to our studies here at the Woods Hole Center. As we receive feed back (and find the time) we will add more features, streamline code, improve documentation, etc.
• Understand that our primary role for the USGS is to carry out field studies and we do not have a huge staff to maintain software, we will respond to issues as our field schedule and priorities allow us the time.

• What we get from you is insight into methodology and improvements to the software.
• We hope that you will contribute modules for others to use, we will post submitted contributions here.

Here are links to the older versions of this work, which we no longer actively support (not even the web pages, sorry, there is only so much time to go around!):


ADCP Tools Version 3.0 -(RDI2CDF Version 2.0 and ADCP Menu Version 3.0)


ADCP Tools Version 2.0 - (RDI2CDF Version 1.0 and ADCP Menu Version 2.0)