Field Installation Guide for Waterlog H3611i Microwave Radar Water Level Sensor, January 2013

In March 2011 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service (NOS) Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) Ocean Systems Test and Evaluation Program (OSTEP) published a report that recommended the limited acceptance of the Design Analysis WaterLog® H3611i radar for use as a water level sensor at CO-OPS' operational measurement stations. The recommendation was based on results from a series of extensive laboratory and field tests that OSTEP had conducted over three years prior to the release of the report. As a result of this recommendation, CO-OPS has started to transition the microwave radar water level technology to operational applications. The following document describes the procedure for installing a WaterLog® H3611i radar sensor for use as a primary sensor at a CO-OPS water level station. The procedure includes instructions for mounting the sensor, conducting geodetic leveling to the sensor to obtain a datum offset, and integrating the sensor into a CO-OPS water level station that employs one of three different Sutron Data Collection Platform (DCP) models.