OCS Study BOEM 2014-604 Roadmap: Technologies for Cost Effective, Spatial Resource Assessments for Offshore Renewable Energy US Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Office of Renewable Energy Programs Roadmap: Technologies for Cost Effective, Spatial Resource Assessments for Offshore Renewable Energy Authors Dr. Eugene Terray Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution – Technical Lead Dr. Brian Howes, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Mr. William Stein, University of Massachusetts Amherst Dr. Jon McGowan, University of Massachusetts Amherst Dr. James Manwell, University of Massachusetts Amherst Dr. Pierre Flament, University of Hawaii Dr. William Plant, University of Washington Dr. Paul Dragos, Battelle Memorial Institute Dr. Dennis Triza, Imaging Science Research Mr. Robert Anderson, Ocean Server Technology Dr. Jerry Mullison, Teledyne RD Instruments Prepared under BOEM Contract M10PC00096 by University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Marine Renewable Energy Center (MREC) 151 Martine St., Fall River, MA 02723 US Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Office of Renewable Energy Programs January, 2014 DISCLAIMER This study was administered by the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Environmental Studies Program, Washington, DC. Funding for the study was provided through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) project # M10PS00152 FY10. Additional partial funding for this study came from the US Department of Energy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This report has been technically reviewed by BOEM and it has been approved for publication. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the US Government, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. REPORT AVAILABILITY To download a PDF file of this Environmental Studies Program report, go to the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Environmental Studies Program Information System website and search on OCS Study BOEM 2014-604. This report can be viewed at select Federal Depository Libraries. It can also be obtained from the National Technical Information Service; the contact information is below. US Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5301 Shawnee Rd. Springfield, VA 22312 Phone: (703) 605-6000, 1(800)553-6847 Fax: (703) 605-6900 Website: http://www.ntis.gov/ CITATION Terray, E., B. Howes, W. Stein, J. McGowan, J. Manwell, P. Flament, W. Plant, P. Dragos, D. Triza, R. Anderson, and J. Mullison. 2014. Roadmap: Technologies for Cost Effective, Spatial Resource Assessments for Offshore Renewable Energy. US Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Herndon. OCS Study BOEM 2014-604. 169 pp. ABOUT THE COVER Front cover photo: Boston Light located on Little Brewster Island about 2.5 miles off Hull, MA. Electric power is available and it is an excellent site for wind resource assessment data gathering. Photo provided by UMass Amherst. i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................... 1 2 RESEARCH SYNOPSIS .......................................................................................... 5 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 5 2.2 Focus and Aims of Individual Research Programs ............................................. 6 2.3 Summary of Individual Research Programs ....................................................... 7 2.3.1 High Resolution Wind Observations ............................................................ 7 2.3.2 Statistical Characterization of Winds, Waves and Currents over Larger Areas 10 2.3.3 High Resolution, Spatial Imaging of Waves and Currents ......................... 11 2.3.4 High Resolution Profiling of Currents and Turbulences ............................. 13 2.3.5 Spatial Surveys of Bottom Sediment and Biotic Communities ................... 14 3 HIGH RESOLUTION WIND PROFILING FROM BUOYS AND SMALL BOATS .... 16 3.1 Technical summary .......................................................................................... 16 3.2 Introduction/Background .................................................................................. 17 3.2.1 Overview .................................................................................................... 17 3.2.2 Potential Wind Measurement Systems ...................................................... 18 3.2.3 SODAR and LIDAR systems ..................................................................... 18 3.2.4 Other potential remote sensing systems.................................................... 18 3.3 Scope of Report ............................................................................................... 19 3.4 Review of State-of-the-art Instrumentation for SODAR and LIDAR ................. 19 3.4.1 SODAR: Principles of Operation ................................................................ 19 3.4.2 Wind Energy SODAR Applications ............................................................ 21 3.4.3 LIDAR Principles of Operation ................................................................... 24 3.4.4 Offshore Wind Energy LIDAR Applications................................................ 27 3.4.5 Summary of Current Manufacturers and Specifications............................. 33 3.5 Potential Sea Platforms for Instrumentation ..................................................... 38 3.5.1 Fixed Platforms .......................................................................................... 38 3.5.2 Long Term Platforms ................................................................................. 38 3.5.3 Short Term Platforms................................................................................. 39 3.5.4 Nearby Islands ........................................................................................... 40 3.5.5 Re-tasking an Existing Offshore Structure ................................................. 42 3.5.6 Coastal Onshore Location ......................................................................... 43 3.5.7 Floating Platforms ...................................................................................... 43 3.5.8 SeaZephIR ................................................................................................ 44 3.5.9 AXYS WindSentinel ................................................................................... 45 3.5.10 FLiDAR ...................................................................................................... 45 3.5.11 Fugro Seawatch ........................................................................................ 46 3.6 Recommendations/Conclusions ....................................................................... 47 3.7 References ....................................................................................................... 49 4 COHERENT MARINE AND HF RADAR VALIDATION TESTS FOR MEASUREMENT OF OCEAN WAVES AND CURRENT .............................................. 56 ii 4.1 Coherent Marine Radar Measurements of Directional Wave Spectra Using Vertically Polarized Antennas .................................................................................... 56 4.1.1 Technical summary ................................................................................... 56 4.1.2 OMEGA-K Spectra .................................................................................... 56 4.1.3 Coherent Radar Description ...................................................................... 57 4.1.4 OMEGA-K Spectra of CORrad .................................................................. 60 4.1.5 Frequency Spectra and Hm0 ..................................................................... 61 4.1.6 H-Polarization: Hurricane Ida ..................................................................... 62 4.1.7 V-Polarization: Hurricane Irene .................................................................. 63 4.1.8 Summary ................................................................................................... 64 4.2 DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF NEW COMPACT HF RADAR .......... 65 4.2.1 Technical Summary ................................................................................... 65 4.2.2 Introduction ................................................................................................ 66 4.2.3 New Hardware Developments ................................................................... 66 4.2.4 Sea Scatter Doppler Spectra ..................................................................... 68 4.2.5 2nd Order Doppler Continuum Due to Longer Wave Spectrum Components .......................................................................................... 70 4.2.6 Inversion of the Doppler Spectrum for Ocean Wave Spectra .................... 72 4.2.7 Acknowledgements ................................................................................... 72 4.2.8 References ................................................................................................ 72 5 HIGH RESOLUTION, SPATIAL IMAGING OF WINDS, CURRENTS AND BATHYMETRY .............................................................................................................