Hydrodynamics of the Alderney Race: HF Radar Wave Measurements

Guiomar Lopez (1) , Anne-Claire Bennis (1) , Yves Barbin (2) , Laurent Benoit (1) , Rémi Cambra (3) , Daniel C. Conley (4) , Thomas Helzel , Jean-Louis Lagarde (1) , Louis Marie (5) , Laurent Perez (1) , Sébastien Smet (6) , Lucy Wyatt (7)

1 M2C - Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière
2 MIO - Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie
3 France Energies Marines [Brest]
4 School of Biological Sciences [Plymouth]
5 LOPS - Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale
6 Actimar - Actimar (Actimar)
7 SoMaS - School of Mathematics and Statistics [Sheffield]

In this contribution we present the first wave measurements collected with a HF radar installed at the north-west coast of France to overlook a promising area for tidal energy extraction. The radar measurements are aimed to help understanding the oceanographic conditions at the site, aid the validation and improvement of numerical models, and ultimately the calculation of tidal stream energy. The results show good agreement when compared against ADCP measurements, especially when the current speed is below 1 m.s-1. The latter appears to have a clear influence not only on the quality of the radar’s wave results, but also on their spatial extent.

Keywords: HF radar; Alderney Race; sea state; surface current; tidal energy

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Earth Sciences; Oceanography

Guiomar Lopez, Anne-Claire Bennis, Yves Barbin, Laurent Benoit, Rémi Cambra, et al.. Hydrodynamics of the Alderney Race: HF Radar Wave Measurements. 7th International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE 2018), Jun 2018, Cherbourg, France. ⟨hal-02064924⟩