The tripod

Since June 2003 MUMM has a tripod measuring frame, obtained with the support of LOTTO. The frame has a 3.3m square base and is 2.4m high. The total weight is about 850 kg. Since the beginning of 2005 this tripod frame has been armed with a new oceanographic measurement system with different instruments that can measure the transport and the sedimentation processes of sand and mud. The acoustic Doppler sensors can measure the speed and direction of currents at different depths of the sea. Temperature, turbidity and salinity, and also the size of particles in suspension can be measured at the same time.

Three times a year, the tripod frame is put on the sea bed and is recuperated by the Belgica. The sensors can measure, for a short period (one week) or a longer period (a few weeks), the processes occuring in the few meters above the seabed. The short term variations (in one tide), middle term variations (a cycle between spring tide and dead tide) and long term variations (in one year) can be registered. The objective is to obtain good data at least 20 days a year, and this is obtained with the measurement scheme of today.

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