Movie:Global Wave Power 2012
Information Page: Global Wave Power 2012
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Global Wave Power 2012
Key Attributes
| Domain: | coastal, marine |
| Keywords: | wave power, wave energy, Pacific ocean, Scotland, renewable energy |
| Model name: | WAVEWATCH III |
| Name: | Albert, Kettner |
| Where: | Global simulation |
| When: | Jan 1st, 2012 to Dec 31st, 2012 |
Short Description
Grade level: Middle (6-8), High (9-12), Under graduate (13-16)
Statement: Simulation of global wave power in 2012
Abstract: Meteorological offices worldwide forecast ocean wave heights for the shipping and fisheries industry. In the United States, NOAA's National Weather Service provides the wave forecasts. Just like in weather forecasting, scientists run numerical models to make these predictions. This movie shows wave power calculations of one of the most commonly used wave models, called ‘WAVEWATCH III®’. WAVEWATCH III® uses global and regional wind data to calculate wind-driven waves every three hours. The model also takes into account the travel of waves beyond the edges of a storm system, the waves still continue to advance even when winds are diminished. These waves decrease in steepness and are called ‘swells’ and keep traveling for large distances. Swells propagate to faraway shorelines where there is no wind.
Notable Features
During the northern hemisphere winter, the most intense wave activity is located in the central North Pacific south of the Aleutian Islands, and in the central North Atlantic south of Iceland.
During the southern hemisphere winter, intense wave activity circumscribes the pole at around 50°S, with 5 m significant wave heights typical in the southern Indian Ocean.
You can identify the areas of coast that receive high wave power, like Australia, the West-coast of Southern France, Spain and Portugal, and the West Coast of the USA.
If you see this pattern it comes as no surprise that the current engineering experiments to harvest wave energy as a source of alternative energy are in those regions (Portugal, Orkney Islands, Scotland, Oregon, USA and along the Australian coast near Perth).
Theory
Wave power, P, is calculated as a function of the significant wave height, Hs and wave period T (the time to complete one complete wave cycle):
P=(ρg^2 )/64π H_s^2 T
ρ = density of sea water, (on average 1050 kg/m3) g=gravitational constant, (9.81m/s2) π = 3.14
Links
http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/index2.shtml
References
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