Can a Doppler radar flowmeter measure flow in tidal rivers with bidirectional flow?

Tidal reaches reverse flow direction periodically: ebb tide runs seaward, flood tide pushes inland, the velocity sign flips and magnitudes vary widely. Single-direction meters cannot handle this scenario.

The HZ-KSLF multi-band Doppler radar flowmeter detects flow direction as well as speed. The Doppler shift carries sign information — the echo distinguishes water moving toward the sensor from water moving away — so the instrument outputs positive/negative velocity. The flow calculation classifies each interval as flood or ebb and accumulates flood and ebb volumes separately, giving a complete tidal water balance.

Typical deployments:

• Tidal sluice and gate stations: HZ-KSLF mounted on the gate bridge or an observation platform monitors discharge and incoming tide.
• Paired with an 80 GHz visual radar level meter for synchronous level data, supporting tide-table analysis of gate operation.
• EC60 RTU as the telemetry unit, reporting over 4G/NB-IoT to the water-authority platform with remote viewing and storm-tide alerts.

Selection notes: tidal reaches have wide velocity ranges — confirm the HZ-KSLF velocity span covers both extremes. For estuaries with heavy sediment and strong wind waves, evaluate how the multi-band configuration copes with a complex water surface. In gate-pump coordination scenarios, radar flow data can feed local control logic in the RTU to start or stop pump sets by flow thresholds.

For more details, please visit our product pages or contact our technical team.