Open AccessMultibeam imaging of the environment around marine renewable energy devices
Author(s) -
Benjamin J. Williamson,
Philippe Blondel
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
proceedings of meetings on acoustics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
ISSN - 1939-800X
DOI - 10.1121/1.4772810
Subject(s) - sonar , marine engineering , marine energy , renewable energy , shore , current (fluid) , tidal power , remote sensing , wave power , software deployment , radar , environmental science , geology , oceanography , energy (signal processing) , engineering , telecommunications , electrical engineering , statistics , mathematics , software engineering
The drive towards sustainable energy sees rapid development of Marine Renewable Energy devices, and current efforts are focusing on wave and tidal structures. However, little is known of the effect of installing and operating these devices. The NERC/DEFRA collaboration FLOWBEC-4D (Flow, Water column & Benthic Ecology 4D) is investigating these effects at test sites in Orkney (EMEC) and Cornwall (Wave Hub), with the first field deployments in June-July 2012. The project combines data from bird observations, shore-based marine X-band radar surveys of wave and current data, detailed modelling of the flow and water column, passive acoustic monitoring and an innovative autonomous sonar platform. Self-contained and deployed for 2 weeks at a time with short turnaround times between deployments, this platform includes an Imagenex Delta T multibeam sonar (260 kHz) with associated power supplies, instrumentation and data storage. The sonar faces vertically upwards with the multibeam swath orientated parallel to the...
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