Spotlight: Marine Energy Research Featured in Acoustics Today Magazine
Triton researchers deploy a hydrophone near the CalWave wave energy device test in La Jolla, California. (Photo by Brett Pickering | Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
Researchers around the world are working to develop technologies to maximize energy capture, characterize marine energy resources, and understand potential environmental effects—including sound impacts. Triton principal investigator and acoustics researcher Joe Haxel recently co-authored an article in the 2023 Winter Issue of Acoustics Today Magazine entitled, “Listening to the Beat of New Ocean Technologies for Harvesting Marine Energy.” In the article, the authors provide an overview of marine energy technologies and how marine energy converters work. They also dive into the acoustic technology research and development being done to understand how marine energy devices might impact underwater soundscapes, and why underwater noise monitoring is critical for the advancement of the marine energy industry. Read the article here.
Field Notes: Triton Research Continues to Soar
The deployed tethered balloon system over Galveston Bay, Texas during the first field test in 2022. (Photo by Hans Ask )
At the end of 2022, the team validated the TBS over Galveston Bay near LaPorte, Texas. During this field test, the team towed marine mammal surrogates behind a research vessel to test how well the TBS and sensor package detected three proxies in the shape of a sea lion and whale (small-sized and large). Read the paper here.
For the second field deployment, the team will travel to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Science Center Granite Canyon field site to test the TBS from a top a cliffside parking lot that overlooks an important area of the gray whale migration. The red, helium-filled balloon and sensor package will be flown at the field site to primarily detect and track the presence and behavior of gray whales as they migrate from the northern feeding grounds in Alaska to the southern breeding grounds in Baja de California, Mexico. The team aims to also collect imagery data for additional marine wildlife species to validate the feasibility of the TBS platform as well as the different sensors on the payload in order to maximize this field campaign. This effort aims to advance capabilities and provide novel options for tracking and detecting marine animals near marine energy sites to gain a better understanding of their occurrence and possible response around deployed devices. Stay tuned for updates from the field!
Publication: Flow Shields for Monitoring Underwater Noise
Hydrophones donning different flow shields prior to performance tests in Sequim Bay, Washington. The flow shields include an oil-filled enclosure (left) and nylon fabric shield (right). (Photo by Michael Richlen | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
One of the challenges of underwater noise monitoring research involves interference from flow noise—or pseudosound caused by turbulent pressure fluctuations as water flows past a hydrophone. Flow shields are tools that can help mitigate flow noise by reducing the non-acoustic changes in pressure that affect the hydrophone sensor and can contaminate recordings in high energy underwater environments.
Triton researchers have worked to develop and test several flow shield materials for reducing flow noise contamination in underwater noise measurements. The team, led by Emma Cotter, recently published a paper in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Express Letters, titled “Performance of Three Hydrophone Flow Shields in a Tidal Channel.” The paper presents results from a study that evaluated the performance of three hydrophone flow shields in the Sequim Bay tidal channel at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)-Sequim. Read the paper here!
Marine Energy Careers Panel
Researchers test environmental monitoring technologies from the PNNL R/V Strait Science for future deployment at a wave energy test site. (Photo by Shanon Dell | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Are you interested in working to help build a clean energy future? PNNL, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories invite you to join an informational webinar featuring national laboratory staff working to advance the marine energy industry on Wednesday, February 7, from 3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. PT.
Staff across various research disciplines, including Triton ocean engineer Molly Grear, will discuss their ocean energy careers, backgrounds, education, career paths, and current projects. Panelists will share their experiences working in the marine energy field and extend advice to students who are preparing to seek graduate or job opportunities in ocean energy disciplines. Register here.
Triton is designed to support the development and testing of more precise and cost-effective environmental monitoring technologies for marine energy. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory leads Triton on behalf of the Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office.
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