Radar-model-fusion approach for high-resolution marine resource mapping (RAWMapping)

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The forecasting of marine weather, waves and tidal currents using models and in-situ measurements is vital for offshore operations and maintenance (O&M) in the marine infrastructure and marine renewable energy (MRE) sectors. Offshore O&M is limited by strict wave height thresholds at the offshore point of operations (typically 1.5m) and with the UK set to spend £2bn per annum by 2025 on O&M for the offshore wind industry alone the prediction of viable working windows for O&M is critical. In the tidal stream MRE sector the combined forces of waves and tidal currents on underwater tidal turbines can lead to dangerously high physical and electrical loads placed on equipment and infrastructure. Poor knowledge, and thus prediction of the local variability in weather, wave and tide conditions result in conservative thresholds for MRE operations. This, in turn, reduces the time MRE devices are in operation (and therefore energy generation), increasing investor risk and harming the financial development of the MRE sector as a whole.Existing wave and current monitoring and forecasting technologies rely on expensive in-situ measurements of the marine environment (e.g., floating wave buoys and devices on the sea bed) and models driven by these measurements or other large-scale simulations. Although very precise, the project partners have identified traditional wave and current monitoring techniques to be inadequate in terms of spatial coverage, timeliness and accuracy in complicated, high-energy coastal environments. These environments have previously proven to be difficult for wave and current observation and validation due to high equipment costs and risks of failure. As such there is a paucity of reliable, large-scale measurements of waves and currents in these high-energy marine environments.Marine navigational radar ('X-band') is a mature technology for the remote sensing of the marine environment, capable of generating estimates of tidal current speed, ocean wave parameters and water depths over wide areas. However the current state-of-the-art in X-band radar oceanography has been found lacking in the high-energy, dynamic and complicated coastal environments that marine energy projects are operating. This project aims to develop a step-change in the way we process radar data to generate measurements of the marine environment, paving the way for a system that can produce the environmental information the marine industry requires. NOC has a 20 year history at the forefront of marine radar oceanography and is well-placed to deliver this much needed development.To achieve this aim an open-source wave model will be integrated with the NOC's tried-and-tested radar analysis toolbox to produce a hybrid model/observation system. This system will combine modelled and observed wave information in such a way that minimises the errors in both; effectively generating a 'most likely' wave measurement over wider area every 10-15 minutes in near-real-time. The system will be developed using radar data and validated using ground-truth data recorded at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) on Orkney; the world's largest and most successful MRE test facility. Once validated, the system will then be demonstrated in a real-world setting at the OpenHydro test platform at EMEC.This project includes researchers with expertise radar oceanography, marine observation and the numerical modelling of the marine environment. Our project partners include EMEC, the marine energy company OpenHydro and JBA consulting; a company at the cutting-edge of operational forecasting. This new and innovative environmental monitoring system will be developed with the guidance of our partners and the successful system used to supply the basis for high-impact solutions for the partners and their clients.