Initial Observations of Hub-Height Winds and Related Variables Off the U.S. West Coast

Presentation Description: In the fall of 2020, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory deployed off the coast of California two lidar buoys owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. The deployment is primarily supported by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and represents a collaboration between the two U.S. federal agencies. One of the buoys was deployed on September 29 approximately 50 km off the coast near Morro Bay in central California in 1100 m of water. The second buoy was deployed approximately 40 km off Humboldt County in northern California in 625 m of water on October 8. The buoys are carrying newly installed Leosphere V2 lidars, which have been validated to be compliant with the Offshore Wind Accelerator roadmap and IEC 61400-12-1 Ed. 2. The buoys are to remain on station for a full year.

The buoys are now providing wind profiles and complementary meteorological and oceanographic data. The wind profiles contain the first hub-height winds to be observed off the U.S. West Coast over a full annual cycle. In this presentation, we will discuss the general deployment configuration of each buoy, general atmospheric and oceanographic phenomena of the area, and provide a summary of observations for the first six months of the deployment. The summary will include wind roses at hub-height for fall, winter, and early spring; turbulence estimates from the lidars; an assessment of the associated stability, wave, and ocean current conditions; and a look at similarities and differences between these initial West Coast observations and the growing set of observations that have been made on the U.S. East Coast.