Velocity profile variability at a tidal-stream energy site (Alderney Race, France): From short (second) to yearly time scales

Lucille Furgerot (1) , Pascal Bailly Du Bois (2) , Yann Méar (3) , Medhi Morillon (2) , Emmanuel Poizot (3, 4) , Anne-Claire Bennis (5)

1 LUSAC - Laboratoire Universitaire des Sciences Appliquées de Cherbourg
2 IRSN/PSE-ENV/SRTE/LRC - Laboratoire de Radioécologie de Cherbourg-Octeville
3 INTECHMER - Institut national des sciences et techniques de la mer
4 CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]
5 M2C - Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière

This paper deals with in situ measurements of waves and currents in Alderney Race. This site is one of the most energetic tidal site in Western Europe with current values up to 5 m.s-1. However, this area is facing open sea to the west and thus strong wind can generate significant wave height interplaying with the tidal currents, which is a critical point for the dimensioning of the tidal turbines. We present our field measurements and our original database. Then, we discuss the preliminary results about the interactions between tidal currents and ocean waves.

Mots clés: Velocity vertical profiles; ADCP measurements; Alderney Race; Wave-current interactions

Domaines: Océanographie; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Lucille Furgerot, Pascal Bailly Du Bois, Yann Méar, Medhi Morillon, Emmanuel Poizot, et al.. Velocity profile variability at a tidal-stream energy site (Alderney Race, France): From short (second) to yearly time scales. OCEANS 2018 and MTS/IEEE Kobe Techno-Oceans (OTO 2018), May 2018, Kobe, Japan. pp.2779-2789, ⟨10.1109/OCEANSKOBE.2018.8559326⟩. ⟨hal-02065544⟩