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

利用模型和现场测量对海洋天气、海浪和潮流进行预报，对于海洋基础设施和海洋可再生能源部门的近海作业和维护至关重要。海上运维受到海上作业点(通常为1.5米)的严格波高门槛的限制，而且由于英国到2025年将仅在海上风电行业的运维上花费20亿英镑，预测可行的运维工作窗口至关重要。在潮流MRE部门，波浪和潮流对水下潮汐涡轮机的合力可能导致对设备和基础设施施加危险的高物理和电力负荷。知识贫乏，因此对当地天气、海浪和潮汐条件的可变性的预测导致MRE作业的阈值保守。现有的海浪和当前监测和预报技术依赖昂贵的海洋环境现场测量(例如，海床上的浮动海浪浮标和设备)和由这些测量或其他大规模模拟驱动的模型。虽然非常精确，但项目合作伙伴发现，在复杂、高能的沿海环境中，传统的海浪和当前监测技术在空间覆盖率、及时性和准确性方面都不够充分。此前已证明，由于高昂的设备成本和故障风险，这些环境很难进行Wave和当前的观测和验证。因此，在这些高能海洋环境中，缺乏可靠、大规模的海浪和海流测量。海洋导航雷达(X波段)是一项成熟的海洋环境遥感技术，能够估计大范围内的潮流速度、海浪参数和水深。然而，目前最先进的X波段雷达海洋学发现，在海洋能源项目正在运作的高能、动态和复杂的沿海环境中，存在着不足。该项目旨在改变我们处理雷达数据以产生海洋环境测量数据的方式，为建立一个能够产生海洋行业所需的环境信息的系统铺平道路。NOC在海洋雷达海洋学的前沿有20年的历史，能够提供这一亟需的发展。为了实现这一目标，将把一个开放源码的波浪模型与NOC久经考验的雷达分析工具箱相结合，以产生一个混合模型/观测系统。该系统将以一种将两者误差降至最低的方式将建模和观测到的波浪信息结合在一起；有效地每10-15分钟近乎实时地在更大范围内产生一次“最有可能”的波浪测量。该系统将使用雷达数据开发，并使用位于奥克尼的欧洲海洋能源中心(EMEC)记录的地面真实数据进行验证；欧洲海洋能源中心是世界上最大、最成功的MRE试验设施。一旦得到验证，该系统将在EMEC的OpenHydro测试平台上进行真实环境的演示。该项目包括具有雷达海洋学、海洋观测和海洋环境数值模拟专业知识的研究人员。我们的项目合作伙伴包括EMEC、海洋能源公司OpenHydro和JBA咨询公司，后者是一家处于业务预测前沿的公司。这一新的创新环境监测系统将在我们合作伙伴的指导下开发，成功的系统将为合作伙伴及其客户提供高影响力的解决方案。

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.