A fluid visualization and characterization system includes a measuring section with a housing defining a fluid flow path for fluid flow. The measuring section includes one or more transducers to emit ultrasonic signals into the fluid flow, and at least one receiver to receive reflections of the ultrasonic signal from reflectors in the fluid flow. The system includes a memory for storing data and a processor operatively connected to the memory. The processor comprises several modules. A velocity estimating module is configured to apply one or more velocity estimation algorithms to received reflections of the ultrasonic signal, or data indicative thereof, to determine a velocity profile of the fluid flow. A deconvolution module is configured to apply a deconvolution algorithm at least to the determined velocity profile to determine a true velocity profile of the fluid flow. A fluid visualization and characterization module is configured to determine characteristics of the fluid and/or fluid flow in by using the determined velocity profile and/or the true velocity profile.