Modular acoustic velocity sensor: a general-purpose flow meter

The accuracy of an acoustic current meter, called the modular acoustic velocity sensor (MAVS), is evaluated. Sources of error, such as flow disturbance from potential flow around the sensor cage, wake effects from support structure and transducers, vortex shedding from the cage, and electronic zero-point offsets, are discussed. The electronic error dominates at velocities less than 5-10 cm/s, while flow disturbance dominates at higher speeds. The estimated RMS error of the MAVS will be on the order of 3.7% of the mean flow, with a low velocity error floor of 0.1 cm/s