Agradecimentos: Authors acknowledge specially hydrometrists Weslley Martins da Conceição, Wueliton Queiroz Barboza, Davi de Jesus Ribeiro, Rafael Andrade Camargo and Ademar Lincoln de Morais to perform discharge measurements and engineer Wagner Pernias Lopes for encouragement and support. AES Tietê Energia provided equipment, resources and personnel. Eduardo Coutinho de Paula and Marcelo de Paula Corrêa from UNIFEI aided with Statistics. Anonymous reviewers made important suggestions and comments to improve this manuscript Ver menos

Abstract: This study examined field validation of discharge measurements with acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) on a remote-controlled boat. Between 2015 and 2020, 112 measurements were assessed at 8 gaging stations in the Paraná River basin, Brazil. SonTek M9 ADCP measurements were compared to rating curves reference discharges. Hypothesis tests were used to verify if mean percentage deviations from the measurements in relation to the reference are equal to zero at a significance level of 0.05. Statistical results indicated that field measurements did not differ from reference values and that percentage deviations are similar to that of previous validation studies. Measurements with ADCP and remote-controlled boat were faster and offered less risk of accidents for hydrometrists than manned boat Ver menos