TRITON STORY: INTEGRATED COLLISION DETECTION AND MITIGATION (ICDM) EXPERIMENTS COMMENCE
University of Washington’s Isabella Pestovski places a model of a marine mammal in the flume during initial experiments. (Photograph by Molly Grear |Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Triton’s Integrated Collision Detection and Mitigation (ICDM) project started flume testing at the University of Washington Alice C. Tyler flume in Seattle, Washington! Triton is testing sensors and control systems designed to detect the presence of a marine mammal and slow turbine blades to reduce the impact of a possible collision event or avoid an interaction altogether. Flume tests are being conducted using whale models, called surrogates, designed and fabricated by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL's) Bio-Acoustics and Flow Laboratory. Meet the team and learn more about this project here.
FIELD NOTES: TETHERED BALLOON UPDATES
The deployed tethered balloon system is monitoring a whale surrogate towed behind the boat. (Photograph by Alicia Amerson | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
The Marine Wildlife Detection and Tracking project completed a six-day technology validation campaign in La Porte, Texas. Triton marine biologist Alicia Amerson partnered with Darielle Dexheimer, a Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) atmospheric scientist, to deploy a tethered balloon system (TBS) and sensor package for the detection of marine wildlife. Such technologies have the potential to be deployed at marine energy test sites and other remote locations to observe and record how marine species may interact with wave energy converters and be used in other remote locations to inform future renewable energy development.
The tethered balloon was stationed onshore and operated by SNL staff, while the PNNL staff towed various sized marine mammal surrogates from a research vessel owned and operated by the University of Houston. The tethered balloon was flown at various altitudes to measure how well the multispectral and thermal cameras detected surrogates in the water. Amerson said, “The partnership with Sandia is particularly unique in that they have been using the TBS for years for atmospheric research. They were eager to trial the TBS with a new sensor package and designed a two-gimbal arm to hold several different cameras.”
Upper left: Triton’s Garrett Staines on-site during the validation testing to deploy the large whale surrogate near the shoreline by the tethered balloon (Credit: Alicia Amerson | PNNL). Upper right: Lead researchers Alicia Amerson and Darielle Dexheimer in front of the tethered balloon (Credit: Garrett Staines | PNNL). Lower left: The two-gimbal arm designed by Sandia National Laboratories for the tethered balloon system (Credit: Alicia Amerson | PNNL). Lower right: The team at the Houston Yacht Club building the large whale surrogate in front of the University of Houston’s research vessel. (Credit: Jimmy Flynn | University of Houston).
The TBS has several potential advantages over other unmanned aerial systems, such as drones. It can carry a heavier payload which allows the team to test various cameras at the same time. The regulation altitude for a balloon is higher than a drone, which increases the field of view. Plus, the TBS does not have the same battery limitations as that of a drone, which allows for longer flight times.
The team is excited for the future of this technology to provide insight on how animals might move through a marine energy test site.
YEAR IN REVIEW: 2022 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TRITON INITIATIVE
JMSE Special Issue
Triton published ten peer-reviewed papers in a special issue in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (JMSE) titled “Technology and Methods for Environmental Monitoring of Marine Renewable Energy.” The papers within this issue provided recommendations to promote consistent, transferable, and cost-efficient environmental monitoring data collection and analysis for the marine energy (ME) industry. This marked the first large-scale set of environmental monitoring methodology recommendations for the ME industry produced from field tests in the United States, and the findings from the publications were designed to be used by decision-makers within the industry.
Triton Talks Webinar Series
In February 2022, Triton launched the Triton Talks webinar series, to share results from the Triton Field Trials that were published in the JMSE special issue. The webinar series provided Triton researchers an opportunity to discuss their field work, expertise, methods, results and recommendations with key ME stakeholders and end users. Check out the recordings from this webinar series in our YouTube Playlist.
Have a topic you want to learn more about through Triton Talks webinars in 2023? Let us know!
This year, several projects that were funded in 2021 to study stressor/receptor interactions and risk mitigation strategies entered their second research phase. These projects began field campaigns and laboratory experiments this year. Here’s a snapshot of their progress in 2022:
The Acoustic Particle Motion and Flow Noise Mitigation project conducted field tests on purpose-built particle motion sensors and flow shields in Sequim Bay at PNNL-Sequim.
The Anthropogenic Light in the Marine Environment project conducted a review of potential interactions of animals and light associated with marine energy devices, and also measured baseline light levels near the PacWave test site in Newport, OR.
The Marine Wildlife Detection and Tracking project conducted field tests in Sequim Bay and carried out a field campaign in Texas to validate a TBS for tracking marine mammals around marine energy sites.
The Probability of Encounter Model team partnered with Aquacoustics, LLC to develop a model that estimates the likelihood of fish encountering turbines during major movement or migration periods.
The Integrated Collision Detection and Mitigationproject began setting up experiments at the University of Washington to test the capabilities of sensors integrated into tidal turbines to mitigate collision risk.
Stay tuned for updates on each of these projects in the coming year!
In the Field
From dive checks of hydrophone landers in La Jolla, California, to technology validation tests in Sequim Bay, Washington, to deploying a tethered balloon system in La Porte, Texas, the Triton team safely conducted numerous field tests in 2022. These field tests provide valuable empirical data to inform Triton’s many projects.
TRITON NEWS
Triton Attends Adaptive Management Meeting
The Igiugig Village Council (IVC) holds a FERC pilot license (Docket P-13511) to operate small-scale, in-river current energy converter turbines developed by Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC). Outmigrating sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) smolts move past the turbine every spring. In collaboration with IVC and ORPC, PNNL’s Triton Initiative, along with Aquacoustics, LLC., collected sonar data upstream of the turbine characterizing smolt outmigration to inform a Probability of Encounter Model (PoEM). Model development is important to estimate encounter rates of fish accurately and efficiently with turbines and will help reduce time and costs for monitoring efforts in the future here and elsewhere. The Triton leads for PoEM, Garrett Staines and Kate Buenau, were invited to present their research for the PoEM task at the Igiugig Hydrokinetic Project’s annual Adaptive Management Team meeting in Alaska on December 13. This meeting was hosted by the IVC and brought together community members, developers, regulators, and resource managers associated with the project. At the gathering, valued feedback was collected to assist with future efforts regarding PoEM.
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE TRITON INITIATIVE!
The Triton team hopes you had a joyful holiday season and a happy, healthy start to the new year! We’ve accomplished so much in the past year and we could not have done it without great partnerships and the support of our sponsor.
We look forward to sharing all of our work planned for 2023. If you would like to receive additional information or want to reach out to the Triton team, please reply to this newsletter or e-mail tritonmre@pnnl.gov. If you enjoy reading this newsletter, consider spreading the word and sharing it with a friend or colleague!
IN OTHER ENERGY NEWS
OES-Environmental Webinar: Planning Ahead to Address Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy
OES-Environmental is hosting a webinar to share tools for designing and siting marine renewable energy—including wave, tide, ocean current, salinity and temperature gradient projects—with environmental effects in mind. This webinar will highlight OES-Environmental's Management Measures Tool, AZTI's Wave Energy Converter - Environmental Risk Assessment (WEC-ERA) Tool, and the Marine Energy Environmental Toolkit for Permitting and Licensing developed by Kearns & West. • When: 19 January 2023, 7:30–9:00 a.m. PST (3:30–5:00 p.m. UTC) • Register now.
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 U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office.
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