Take a peek at various ways SeaSonde® data is being used to improve offshore energy operations in the oil sector as
well as renewables.
Image shows SeaSonde currents (colored vectors) nearest to the Deepwater Horizon
leak site superimposed on the National
Oceanic Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) oil particle trajectory
forecast (blue blotches). This
data set (from 4 June 2010) and
others collected throughout the
disaster response period are posted
online at the U.S. Integrated Ocean
Observing System (U.S. IOOS) official
leak response site.
Offshore oil and gas operators continue to thrive and play a vital role in global
economies, while at same time
making way for their newest neighbors
in the water who attempt to harness
significant power from the ocean
area-- in the form of currents,
winds and waves. This special
edition newsletter focuses on
ways in which SeaSonde data is
being used by the broader offshore
energy sector, to improve technology
and operations and managing consequences.
It is by no means comprehensive,
so expect to see more articles
on this topic in future newsletter editions!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Deepwater Horizon Oil Leak
SeaSonde data proves useful in response efforts to the disaster in the Gulf of
Mexico.
Univ. of Alaska, Part 1
HF radar data benefitting Alaska oil industry and native communities.
Ocean Energy Testing &
Evaluation Range
SeaSondes in east Florida are part of Florida Atlantic University’s Center
for Ocean Energy Technology to test and improve energy extraction devices.
Univ. of Alaska, Part 2
Sometimes the scientists at UAF have a very long commute! Also, take
a look at the remote power solution these folks have developed specifically
for SeaSonde equipment in Arctic environments.
TECH TIP
Can you really double your forward power with a simple pole?
The BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig ablaze.
Image credit: U.S. Coast Guard.
SeaSonde antenna operating in Alabama.
SeaSondes Play Role in Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response
Five years after Hurricane Katrina’s wrath was felt by residents in the Gulf of
Mexico, the area now faces another disaster. On 20 April 2010 the explosion
on Deepwater Horizon oil rig set into motion the oil leak that flowed until
15 July and is now on record as the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
Its impacts as well as required cleanup and remediation will continue for
years.
Within days of the explosion, CODAR engineers worked alongside scientists
at University of Southern Mississippi to complete installation of their
3 Long-Range SeaSonde radars and mobilize this network so that it would
provide coverage of the surface currents from Mississippi as far east to
Pensacola, Florida.
Data from this network, and another Long-Range SeaSonde network positioned
along the west Florida shelf (owned and operated by University of South
Florida), were loaded hourly into the US IOOS national HF radar network
database and from there used by NOAA scientists alongside their models
of circulation and oil transport in the Gulf.
A wider swath of scientists used this data and that from Rutgers University
underwater glider fleet to compare with and to analyze the utility of the
HyCOM and SABGOM models running in the Gulf.
While ocean circulation in the deep water areas of the Gulf can be resolved
with confidence using satellite-derived data, the current circulation patterns
on the shallower shelf areas are poorly observed by satellite as these
areas are influenced less by geostrophic and tidal effects, but more by
winds, bathymetry, and river discharge. These influences reduce the effectiveness
of satellite-derived current information while emphasizing circulation
nowcasts and forecasts that input data over the continental shelf. SeaSonde
HF radar current patterns are the most obvious and critical nowcast observations
that satisfy this need.
Please allow approx. 30 secs. for video to begin play
NEWS COVERAGE
Considerable press has been given to the use of SeaSondes in the Gulf of
Mexico response. Of the writings, we especially like that article written
by Paul Voosen which appeared in the New York Times online. Click here for the full article
At left: San Francisco State University’s Jim Pettigrew explains to NBC
Bay Area news reporter Vicky Nguyen the basics of how HF radar works, how
it can help in the Gulf response effort, and also the incredible SeaSonde
coverage along California’s coastline that represents the world’s most
extensive HF radar network. The news video segment can be at the left.
The website specially devoted to U.S. IOOS’ disaster response
in the Gulf of Mexico (entry portal http://
rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/deepwater/
) contains arguably the best
collection of oceanographic information
and analysis available for
public viewing. We call special attention
to the Deepwater Blog
section (direct link is http://rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/deepwater/category/deepwater-blog/).
Of the 127 postings made thus far, there
are
simply too many interesting entries involving
SeaSonde data to list. So, instead we
show below an excerpt from the blog dated
4 June 2010,
(posted by Dr. Scott Glenn of Rutgers
University) illustrating one specific
example how SeaSonde data is being used.
The blog is posted online at http://rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/deepwater/category/deepwater-blog/page/8/
HF Radar tells the story for the Florida Coast.
Figure 1. This is the NOAA Oil Spill Forecast for June 3. The oil that is north of the
Deepwater Horizon site was located
directly south of the Mississippi/Alabama
border, directly south of Mobile
Bay. Very little is south of the
Alabama/Florida border.
Figure 2. Here is the NOAA oil spill forecast forecast for June 4. There is a
significant eastward shift in in
the highest oil concentrations
shown in the blue colors. The black
line showing the outer boundary
has shifted significantly to the
north and east, making landfall
in Alabama and Florida.
Figure 3. Now we overlay the surface
current maps from the
National HF Radar network. The shore-based
radar systems are
observing strong currents generally
to the east. West of Mobile
Bay, the strong currents are running
to the southeast, moving the
oil slick away from the Mississippi
coast. East of Mobile Bay, the
currents turn, heading northeast,
toward the Florida coast, exactly
how the oil is moving. The HF Radars
are showing us where the
oil is going and why. No wonder the
U.S. Coast Guard uses HF
Radar for Search And Rescue.
Figure 4. Now here is the HF Radar
surface current map from
the Florida shelf south of Tampa.
The oil slick is just making it into
the coverage area for these HF Radars.
Currents here are
alongshore generally to the north.
The outer edge closest to the oil
is heading northeast towards Tampa,
but the currents closer in are
running parallel to the coast.
University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Part 1:
HF Radar Data Benefitting Alaska Oil Industry & Native Communities
UAF field experts prepare to make antenna patten measurements from
small skiff
in the icy Chukchi sea.
HF radar for ocean observing has a long history in Alaska starting back in 1976.
At that time NOAA deployed CODAR
units (predecessor to the SeaSonde®)
as part of an environmental impact
assessment in Lower Cook Inlet for
benefit of the Bureau of Land Management
(which at the time was responsible
for managing offshore oil leasing
on the outer continental shelf).
Since then, Alaska maintains its
status as one of the most challenging
environments to deploy and operate
HF radar, though the benefits of
having its data for serving oil industry
and others have always been great
enough to justify the effort!
The HF radar team members at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF)
School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences have used their expertise to meet
the challenges of radar deployments in the toughest of conditions. While
deployments take them all around the state from the Gulf of Alaska in the
South to the Beaufort Sea in the North, a present focus for 2010 is in
Northwest Alaska’s Chukchi Sea.
SeaSonde antennas have been striped with bright reflective tape for alerting
snow machine operators to their presence.
With funding from the United States Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management., Regulation & Enforcement Division, Conoco Phillips Alaska, Inc., and Shell Oil Company, UAF
has set up Long-Range SeaSondes in Barrow, Wainwright, and <in process> Point Lay to provide data to the offshore energy industry. As a bonus, native
Alaskan Communities may also use the outputs to predict how sea ice conditions
may change during subsistence hunting activities.
The data collected in the Chukchi Sea will be used for oil spill risk analysis
as well as Environmental Impact Statements. Shell Oil was scheduled to
drill in the Chukchi Sea this summer, 2010, until the moratorium on drilling
was handed down by the Obama Administration. In addition to SeaSondes,
UAF is also deploying a six mooring array stretching out from the shoreline
that will measure currents, waves, ice thickness, temperature, and salinity
from August 2010 through August 2011. For the month of August 2010, two
Webb Slocum gliders will undulate within the SeaSonde coverage.
Long-Range SeaSonde antennas
operating in Chukchi Sea at
Wainwright, Alaska.
UAF team members Hank Statscewich, Tom Weingartner & Rachel Potter
SeaSonde-derived Chukchi Sea current map produced during 2009 deployment
DANGER!!
While most UAF field campaigns are carefully planned in advance, there are occasions
when the radar team is called to
action with only days or hours notice.
Such was the case last year in Cook
Inlet area, when Mt. Redoubt roared
its ugly head. The volcanic eruption
sent an avalanche of mud, known as
a lahar, toward the oil storage tanks
at the Drift River Oil Terminal (DROT)
nearly causing an oil spill. The
surprise lahar alerted people to the clear and present danger posed by Mt. Redoubt and possible
devastation of local environment.
As part of the emergency preparations
UAF performed a rapid deployment
of three SeaSondes in the area, including
placement of a unit on Osprey Oil
platform just west of the DROT.
Mt. Redoubt sending ash cloud into sky, 2009. Photo courtesy of James Isaak.
SeaSonde’s Role in the Ocean Energy Testing & Evaluation Range at Florida Atlantic
University’s
Center for Ocean Energy Technology
Contributed by Shirley Ravenna, Florida
Atlantic University
FAU Engineer Shirley Ravenna preparing ADCPs for deployment.
As a necessary contribution to help advance ocean energy development, Florida
Atlantic University’s (FAU) Center
for Ocean
Energy Technology (COET) is measuring,
characterizing, and modeling ocean
thermal and ocean kinetic resources
available
from the Gulf Stream Current in the
Florida Straits. The measurement efforts
initially involve stand-alone moored
velocity and
temperature measurements across the
Straits in the Ft. Lauderdale area,
surface-deployed water column profiling
instruments, and shore-based ocean surface radar.
FAU’s COET is pursuing a phased approach
to technology and infrastructure
development. Ultimately, an offshore
testing, measurement, and observation
range is planned. This in situ laboratory
will consist of not only ocean-current
energy-extraction device scaled system
testing capabilities, but a comprehensive
underwater and remote scientific observatory,
including both resource and
environmental measurement sensor and
instrument suites. The phased approach
is based upon a collective technology
readiness level and regulatory development
strategy. This first phase (underway)
consists of shore-based coastal radar
systems,
offshore stand-alone moored current
profiler instruments, and Conductivity
Temperature Depth (CTD) profiling measurements.
The kinetic resource assessment consists
of several ADCP deployed moorings
which measure the velocity magnitude
and direction of the water column at
their
locations and a SeaSonde® network measuring
the complete current vector for
the surface layer. The SeaSonde measurements
overlay the information collected by
the moored ADCP packages, and thus
allow for
inference of volumetric flow information.
The thermal resource assessment consists
of gathering vessel-deployed CTD cast
profiles along several transects to quantify
the thermal resource off the southeast
coast of Florida. Initial resource
assessments show that
southeast Florida is an ideal geographic
location for commercial ocean current
and ocean thermal energy conversion
(OTEC) device
development. Continued measurements
will help quantify and characterize
a more detailed picture of the potentials
for these marine
renewable energies offshore of southeast
Florida.
Surface current map from FAU SeaSonde network.
Ocean current energy extraction devices
will likely be diverse in size, shape,
and energy extraction methods. During
the second phase
of development, COET is preparing a
simple scaled ocean current turbine,
to generally address the spectrum of
device-technology gap
development. This turbine, in concert
with the accompanying support infrastructure
as a small-scale device test bed will
be used as a
research and development tool to advance
the implementation of ocean-energy
extraction devices. Leveraging test
bed instrumented support infrastructure,
device
testing and demonstration, and correlated
environmental and resource
characterization data from a comprehensive
ocean observatory, COET aims to
provide ocean-energy device-testing
methodologies and capability, a sufficient
understanding and characterization
of marine renewable energies in the
Florida
Straits, and an understanding of the
potential ecological and environmental
interactions of this developing ocean
energy industry.
FAU SeaSonde deployed at Haulover Beach Park in Florida
Offshore Wind Farms & the Role of SeaSonde Data –
Saving Money for Utilities and
New Jersey Rate Payers
President Obama wants 20% of United States power coming from green energy by 2030.
While this sounds like an aptly ambitious
goal, it pales in comparison to that
set by the state of New Jersey: source
30% of its electricity from green energy
by 2020. Last summer the state celebrated
its 4000th solar installation, proving
it is rising to the challenge. But
to fully achieve this lofty goal, New
Jersey cannot rely on land-based equipment
and must move to the water, capturing
offshore wind power.
Image above shows the future location of NJ’s 350 MW offshore wind
park, set for construction to
start in 2012. Program led
by NRG
Bluewater Wind.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJ BPU) is funding the development
of offshore wind farms and along the way
aims to save money for the utilities and NJ rate payers by optimal harnessing
of such “green power”. Once installed, the
daily operating cost of running a wind turbine is relatively uniform, regardless
of actual power produced any given day.
Utilities sell power by bidding certain quantities on spot energy market
for prices that are set 24 hours in advance. If the
utility can predict accurately how much wind energy they will create
and have available the following day (to sell) then they can bid a
larger quantity of power produced from the wind (that comes at no
additional cost to the utility), and maximize their profit. New Jersey
rate payers also benefit because a percentage of any such profits gets
refunded to them. However, if the utility estimates poorly and
oversells energy based on expected wind output then they need to derive
that energy from another source (e.g. coal) -- as a result the utility can lose
money and
rate payers see no savings in their utility bills.
NJ BPU has contracted scientists at Rutgers University to
improve the atmospheric forecasts that utilities use in
estimating potential green energy production. Rutgers’ very
high resolution atmospheric forecast model, RU-WRF, is
running with a 1 km resolution that is fine enough to resolve
the physics of the critical sea breeze off the New Jersey
coast. RU-WRF outputs information that NJ BPU can share with all utility
companies. Rutgers is running an operational version used to provide information
to weather service and also a research version they can use to experiment
and tweak over time. The SeaSonde data outputs will be a
critical tool used to validate the WRF model. Rutgers manages a SeaSonde
network in the New York- New Jersey area providing 2-D
current maps with both 1 km and 6 km resolution settings. Wind turbines
will be positioned near center of 1 km grid coverage areas.
For the modeling and forecasting effort, the biggest variability near shore
during peak power times is the diurnal sea breeze. The sea
breeze is a wind field that moves across the coastal zone towards land,
affected significantly by differences between the warm land
surface temperature and the cool sea surface temperature. You can see its
leading onshore edge using microwave radars, as this front side
contains plenty of dust and particulate matter acting as an ideal scatter
wall for the microwave signals. However, that’s all the
microwave radar can see. The HF radar picks up from there by helping show
the extent of the sea breeze and quantifying the spatial
and temporal variability across the breeze field, that has until now been
the critical missing information.
“Maps showing diurnal variance ellipses (black
crosses) and the major axis (color) of diurnal
variability calculated from the HF radar system for (a)
February–March 2005 and (b) April–May 2005.“
This figure and above description are published in
Hunter, E., R. Chant, L. Bowers, S. Glenn, and J.
Kohut (2007), Spatial and temporal variability of
diurnal wind forcing in the coastal ocean, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 34, L03607, doi:10.1029/2006GL028945.
How does the HF radar do this? Not giving away the recipe in this short article,
in summary: Rutgers applies a series
of post-processing
techniques to the SeaSonde 2-D surface
current maps that filter out specific
influences on the surface currents,
such as the tidal
constituents, eventually isolating
the wind-induced component of current
at each 1 km grid point in the radar
field. The intensity of the
wind-induced surface current is very
well correlated with what the winds
above are doing spatially.
Additional Uses For RU-WRF Model & SeaSonde Outputs:
Wind Farm Design and Engineering
Typically the technology engineers
utilize what are called “Wind Resource
Maps” (WRM)
to design equipment, determine its
ideal placement offshore and estimate
energy
production. The resource maps are rather
crude, in the form of annual average
maps. One
task of the Rutgers team is using the
model outputs and SeaSonde data in
creating more
sophisticated WRMs-- for each month,
with data averaged for 3 hour segment
across the day, to better match demand periods.
Verifying Performance
The WRF model and SeaSonde data can
also be used to confirm that the wind
turbines are
working and delivering the power they’re
supposed to over a range of various
wind speeds
and durations, and afterwards gauge
the power harnessing effectiveness
of that equipment.
Assisting Routine & Emergency
Ocean Operations
In addition to SeaSonde data being
used to validate the model outputs,
this same data can
also be used to assist with field operations:
during installation, routine O&M and any
emergency responses that may be required.
For these activities it’s good to know
in realtime
what the ocean current and wave conditions
are for the area.
Example of annual Wind Resource Map for New Jersey area.
Portugal Starts Operational HF Radar Observing
SeaSonde currents showed inside display screen of PORTUS BY QUALITAS
oceanographic information system.
T he deployment of two SeaSonde® HF Radars in the Sines area by the INSTITUTO
HIDROGRÁFICO (IH) has been awarded to
the engineering company QUALITAS. This system is part of the SIMOC project
(www.hidrografico.pt/simoc.php), which has also
the support of Sines Harbor Administration, and will monitor surface currents
and waves in the southwest coast of Portugal.
The IH (Portuguese Hydrographic Office) is a state research laboratory,
part of the Portuguese Navy, and is the main operational
oceanographic institution in Portugal. Amongst its responsibilities is
the establishment and maintenance of the national operational
ocean observing network, which gives support to all Portuguese constituents
along the its EEZ such as search and rescue activities, safe
navigation and harbour operation.
The Sines area, positioned halfway between Lisbon and Algarve, was chosen
as the first permanent HF Radar deployment area since it is
one of the most sensible locations of the Portuguese coast, having a major
petrochemical harbor, and directly to the south, a natural
reserve (Natural Park of the Southwest of Alentejo). Environmental monitoring
by means of HF radar is understood as a preventive
action to improve safety along one of the heaviest ship
traffic corridors in the world. The radar network will
complement the wave buoy deployed near the Sines
Harbor (part of the national buoy network) as fixed
monitoring systems, and allow a deeper knowledge of the
circulation in this area.
Data retrieved by the system will be integrated into the
PORTUS BY QUALITAS® oceanographic information
system.
The radars will be operating from the Sines Harbor and
Cape Sardão, these being the first two sites of the planned
national network as foreseen in MONIZEE, the
Portuguese Coast Monitoring Plan.
For more information regarding this project please
contact:
Cte. Santos Fernandes of IH -
or
Pedro Agostinho of
QUALITAS -
A Sneak Peak at the Next Generation of
Rapid Response
Ocean Monitoring
CODARNOR AS, the Norwegian partner of CODAR Ocean Sensors, has been contracted
to develop a self-contained rapid response
SeaSonde® which can be deployed by
helicopter or other means to remote
and rugged locations along the Norwegian
coast.
Initiated by the Norwegian Clean Seas
Association for Operating Companies
(NOFO) and cofinanced by Innovation
Norway, the project
is part of a development program aimed
at improving oil spill response technology.
Representation of NOFO program rapid response SeaSonde
The current maps collected from these
rapid-deployable systems will be delivered
in real-time to improve oil spill response
efforts by
blending data with drift model currents
for improved drift predictions and
vessel management. Outfitting an HF
radar system into a
mobile unit for quick deployment is
not a new idea. Groups at Texas A&M University and NOAA CO-OPS have integrated SeaSondes
into vehicle-towed mobile trailers
with off-the-shelf power and communications
subsystems. Both groups have proven
this type of
integration and mobile setup successful
and useful over multiple tests and
deployments. Towed trailers, however,
have inherent
limitations such as accessible roads
and travel times that are dictated
by local conditions. Many coastal areas,
especially in Norway, can be
inaccessible by road and lack basic
infrastructure, making a quick installation
of an HF radar system difficult. By
reducing the weight, integrating the antenna and power supply
into the shelter and providing redundant
communication options, it’s never been
quicker to
deploy an HF radar for emergency situations.
Lighter and faster hardware is only
part of the solution, though.
For more information or development updates on rapid response SeaSondes, please
contact Laura Pederson <
> or
Dr. Anton Kjelaas <
>,
President, CODARNOR AS.
CODARNOR AS company president Dr. Anton Kjelass seen with helicopter deployable
SeaSonde package
The end-users of surface current maps
have to feel confident in the data
delivered to them and be able to use
it immediately. A
dedicated
web server running the PORTUS information
system by Qualitas Instruments of Madrid
(http://www.qualitasremos.com/) will
serve as an
interactive, user-friendly Google-based
display of the data. PORTUS will provide
real-time QA/QC and integrate standard
products such
as hourly surface current and error
maps and perform Open Modal Analysis
(OMA) on raw current data to fill out
coverage in areas
where only one site can measure or
where shadowing may occur. One potential
end-user of the data is also a development
partner. The
Norwegian Meteorological Institute
(met.no) currently operates a 24-hour
emergency oil spill service for Norwegian
waters consisting of
a suite of operational ocean models,
wave forecast models and numerical
weather prediction models. About 90
oil types that have been
studied by SINTEF have been incorporated
into their oil drift model. The information
is available to the end user through
a web service
as well as on demand from the forecaster.
Forecasters for met.no will use the
OMA outputs of PORTUS to blend with
model currents
for improved spill response. The first
rapid deployments of the prototype
unit will take place late Summer in Finnmark, Norway.
Representation of NOFO program rapid response SeaSonde
University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Part 2:
Just Another Day at The Office??
Read this and you’ll never complain about
your daily commute again!
UAF being 300 miles away from the closest field sites, often with no traversable
road between, routinely works small
miracles in the transportation department.
Gear is frequently subjected to at
least 3 modes of transportation before
reaching its destination. This can
include auto trailer, boat, plane,
seaplane, helicopter and oldfashioned
hand carry across water and rocks.
Among the toughest challenges in Alaska is finding sites with a suitable power
supply and high-speed communications. When power and comms are not available
locally, bringing these to the site increases the team’s “luggage” significantly.
Photo montage captures this
process of transport and setup in
Prince William Sound.
Arctic Power Solution by UAF
To overcome the logistics nightmare
of bringing in energy, UAF is developing
a remote
power system used specifically for
SeaSonde equipment in Arctic environments.
The remote
power system has been designed such
that no single piece weighs more than
55kg and is
approximately no bigger than 1.2m x
2.4m. The device is equipped with four
wind turbines, a
solar array and a backup generator.
The wind and solar power charge a large
battery bank,
which can provide five days of standard
generation. If the batteries are drained
and there’s no electricity from solar or wind,
the module recharges using a biodiesel
generator. With
funding from the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), the 2,720kg remote
power
module will undergo a test deployment
with a SeaSonde in Barrow, Alaska,
running this
summer through November.
Double Your Forward Power
with a Simple Pole?
What if someone told you that you could more than double your
effective radiated power over the sea by simply sticking a post in the
ground behind your combined transmit/receive SeaSonde antenna? No wires,
cables, nothing! All with a special kind of “magic” post.
Well, read on -- CODAR has done it!
The normal SeaSonde transmit antenna is a monopole or dipole, which has
an
omnidirectional pattern. That means power back over land, where you don’t
need it. One way to focus power out over the sea is to use a second array
element. We’ve done that before, and it works. But there’s the messy cables,
and the complicated tuners and calibration.
The Yagi antenna is frequently used to focus power in a preferred direction.
The old VHF TV antenna on your rooftop was a Yagi. That’s our basic concept.
• In a 2-element Yagi, the dipole you drive or feed has a passive reflector
element close behind it, but not electrically connected -- a “parasite”.
• Its spacing and length determines how much power is focused forward.
This
is what we are doing here.
But do we have a special problem with the combined antenna?
• We want a focused directional pattern on transmit, but an omnidirectional
pattern on receive -- how are both possible?
• In addition, we don’t want the closely spaced reflector to distort the
patterns
of the receive loops -- can this be done?
Here's how we solve the above problem.
• The passive reflector dipole behind the standard combined antenna needs
to be tuned. So we put a tuning coil where the feed point
would have been.
• We also insert a diode to break the circuit when the forward element
is not transmitting. When cut in two like this, it can’t draw
current and hence no longer interacts with the forward element during the
receive cycle. This means it does not distort the loop or
forward dipole patterns.
• Hence the two are directive on transmit, but the receive antenna patterns
needed for bearing determination are intact because the
rear element becomes invisible when the transmitter is off.
Examples of the transmit patterns are shown to the left. The green curve is the
original omnidirectional
pattern of a single dipole. The red and blue curves are the result of different
length/spacing
combinations with the rear element in place. We want to beam energy out
to sea, which is to the right
in the figure. However, in most cases we also want good shore-to-shore
(North-South) coverage. The
blue curve does that best. It increases the seaward field strength nearly
4 dB, for a predicted distance
increase greater than 10 km at 13 MHz.
How Well Does It Work in Practice?
To answer that, we did tests over two months at BML. We alternated between
rear reflector in place
and operating for a
few days, then
removing it for a few
days. We compared
distance coverage by
looking at the retrieved radial vector span alternating
between the two states. A long period of time was
desired, so we could average out short-term weather
and current-related variations. The results are shown
to the right.
In fact, the two-month comparison shows a nice 13
km coverage gain when the reflector post is in place,
a bit more than predicted. This is a great alternative
to have in your toolbox, for cases when you have the
space available and want to push your coverage out
further, without the hassle and expense of increasing your radiated power
by 150%. We need to do more testing and burn-in on the
diode switch that makes it electrically invisible on receive, and then
it will become a standard product.
SeaSonde Remote Unit
using Combined TX-RX
Antenna with Passive
Reflector behind it to
boost forward power
over the ocean.
2010 RiverSonde Equipment Grant Awards
Congratulations are in order
for the two RiverSonde equipment
grant
recipients –
David Honegger of Oregon State University (OSU) and Rutgers University
pair Danielle Holden & Dakota Goldinger!
Rutgers University undergraduate students Danielle Holden and Dakota Goldinger
are deploying the RiverSonde as part of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) Summer Research Institute program. In June their team installed the RiverSonde unit atop Stevens Institute
of Technology’s Center for Maritime Systems building at the edge
of the Hudson River, directly across from Manhattan. Since the unit
is high above land the range of the system is extending beyond the
traditional 200-300m limit,
Background Image:
Students participating in
the DHS Summer
Research Institute
Program install
RiverSonde hardware
atop building, with
Hudson river and
Manhattan skyline as
backdrop.
reaching across the approx. 1150m wide
channel. Data will be integrated into the New York Harbor Observing
and Prediction System (NYHOPS) that models spatial and temporal variability
of urban waters and microclimate. The team will both assimilate and
compare the RiverSonde surface velocity measurements into the NYHOPS
Hudson River Model with the goal of improving forecasts. Data from
the RiverSonde are plotted in real-time and displayed on the
Hudson River RiverSonde radial velocity vector map (green) with cross-channel
velocity profile in magenta.
Mr. Honegger is working towards a Ph.D in Civil Engineering with a disciplinary
focus in Coastal and Ocean Engineering at Oregon State University.
This Fall he will deploy the RiverSonde unit between the Newport,
Oregon jetties that form a 300 meter wide channel. The data will
be used to approximate the along-stream current magnitude and
cross-stream current profile and determine the variability due
to tides and precipitation events. The wave direction, wavelength
and presence of breaking extracted from X-band marine radar images
outside the jetties collected by Dr. Merrick Haller of OSU will
be compared against the tidal current information gathered from
the RiverSonde data to help characterize the importance of currents
with respect to the wave breaking events. The RiverSonde data
will also be compared against the modeled currents of a 3-D Yaquina Bay circulation model developed by Dr. James A. Lerczak (College
of Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences, OSU). The outcome of this circulation model validation
will help Honegger introduce accurate tidal current time series
into the Unstructured-grid Simulating Waves Nearshore (UnSWAN)
spectral wave model and appropriately compare modeled wave-current
interactions with those observed in the X-band marine radar images.
Grant recipients receive use
of RiverSonde for 3 months,
CODAR engineer assistance
with installation, a training
course offered at the recipient
institution, and travel funds to
present their findings at a
scientific conference.
These figures are excerpted from Honegger’s grant proposal. Figure 1: (a) Google
Earth snapshot and estimated
radar footprint near Newport, OR, (b) bathymetry near the antenna
location, and (c) photograph of the existing marine
radar station and planned RiverSonde installation location.
SeaSonde: Is it Cutting-Edge Technology, Fine Art...
or Both?
Whis magnificent church (below right),
inspired by the basilica of Santa
Sophia in Constantinople, was recent venue
for special exhibition, “Tecno@rt: The
inevitable meeting of art and technology in a
sustainable environment”, in which, as event
organizers say, “both disciplines explore their
common fields and their progressive
confluence”.
Featuring cutting edge ocean monitoring
tools and concepts displayed in the fashion
typical of a fine art show, SeaSonde antenna
received special billing with front-and-center
placement (image at right). This admittedly
biased author thinks it stole the show!
Tecno@rt was part of the 2010 European
Maritime Day Stakeholder Conference that
took place in Gijon, Spain 18-21 May.
SeaSonde Remote Unit using Combined TX-RX Antenna with Passive Reflector behind
it to boost forward power over the
ocean.
At right:
Sharing
ocean observing ideas
at the event are (from
left to right) Dr. Scott Glenn
of Rutgers University, Dr.
Enrique Fanjul Alvarez of
Puertos del Estado, Ms.
Zdenka Willis of NOAA
IOOS and Mr. Andres
Alonso-Martirena Tornos of
CODAR Europe.
UPCOMING
EVENTS
CODAR
WILL BE EXHIBITING AT THE FOLLOWING UPCOMING
EVENTS:
2010 MEETING OF THE AMERICAS
8-13 August 2010 Foz do Iguacu, Brazil
We recommend participation in the OS02
session: Application of HF Radar Networks
to Ocean Forecasts.
Oceans 2010
21-23 September 2010 Seattle, Washington
Stop by and meet us at Exhibit Booth #219!
Mid-Atlantic Bight Physical Oceanography
and Meteorology Meeting (MABPOM 2010)
26-27 October 2010 Hoboken, New Jersey
Links to these conference official web sites
can be found in Upcoming Events Section of
CODAR home page www.codar.com
1914 Plymouth Street
Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
Phone: +1 (408) 773-8240
Fax: +1 (408) 773-0514 www.codar.com
UAF field experts prepare to make antenna patten measurements from
small skiff
in the icy Chukchi sea.
FAU Engineer Shirley Ravenna preparing ADCPs for deployment.
development
of offshore wind farms and along the way
aims to save money for the utilities and NJ rate payers by optimal harnessing
of such “green power”. Once installed, the
daily operating cost of running a wind turbine is relatively uniform, regardless
of actual power produced any given day.
Utilities sell power by bidding certain quantities on spot energy market
for prices that are set 24 hours in advance. If the
utility can predict accurately how much wind energy they will create
and have available the following day (to sell) then they can bid a
larger quantity of power produced from the wind (that comes at no
additional cost to the utility), and maximize their profit. New Jersey
rate payers also benefit because a percentage of any such profits gets
refunded to them. However, if the utility estimates poorly and
oversells energy based on expected wind output then they need to derive
that energy from another source (e.g. coal) -- as a result the utility can lose
money and
rate payers see no savings in their utility bills.
Example of annual Wind Resource Map for New Jersey area.
Representation of NOFO program rapid response SeaSonde
To overcome the logistics nightmare
of bringing in energy, UAF is developing
a remote
power system used specifically for
SeaSonde equipment in Arctic environments.
The remote
power system has been designed such
that no single piece weighs more than
55kg and is
approximately no bigger than 1.2m x
2.4m. The device is equipped with four
wind turbines, a
solar array and a backup generator.
The wind and solar power charge a large
battery bank,
which can provide five days of standard
generation. If the batteries are drained
and there’s no electricity from solar or wind,
the module recharges using a biodiesel
generator. With
funding from the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), the 2,720kg remote
power
module will undergo a test deployment
with a SeaSonde in Barrow, Alaska,
running this
summer through November.
Examples of the transmit patterns are shown to the left. The green curve is the
original omnidirectional
pattern of a single dipole. The red and blue curves are the result of different
length/spacing
combinations with the rear element in place. We want to beam energy out
to sea, which is to the right
in the figure. However, in most cases we also want good shore-to-shore
(North-South) coverage. The
blue curve does that best. It increases the seaward field strength nearly
4 dB, for a predicted distance
increase greater than 10 km at 13 MHz.
At right:
