Nantucket Shoals Wind Farm
Field Monitoring Program

______

Anne Frances Johnson, Kathleen Pierce,
and Kelly Oskvig, Rapporteurs

Committee on Evaluation of Hydrodynamic
Modeling and Implications for Offshore
Wind Development: Nantucket Shoals

Ocean Studies Board

Division on Earth and Life Studies

Proceedings of a Workshop

NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001

This activity was supported by a contract between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and National Academy of Sciences. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-72865-2
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-72865-7
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/28021

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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Nantucket Shoals Wind Farm Field Monitoring Program: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/28021.

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COMMITTEE ON EVALUATION OF HYDRODYNAMIC MODELING AND IMPLICATIONS FOR OFFSHORE WIND DEVELOPMENT: NANTUCKET SHOALS

EILEEN E. HOFMANN (Chair), Professor, Old Dominion University

JEFFREY CARPENTER, Research Scientist, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon

QIN JIM CHEN, Professor, Northeastern University

JOSH T. KOHUT, Professor, Rutgers University

RICHARD MERRICK, NOAA Fisheries (retired)

ERIN L. MEYER-GUTBROD, Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina

DOUGLAS P. NOWACEK, Professor, Duke University

KAUSTUBHA RAGHUKUMAR, Consultant, Integral Consulting Inc.

NICHOLAS RECORD, Senior Research Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff

KELLY OSKVIG, Study Director

DARRYL ACKER-CARTER, Research Associate (until August 2024)

SAFAH WYNE, Senior Program Assistant

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Reviewers

This Proceedings of a Workshop was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published proceedings as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings:

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse content of the proceedings nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by ALAN HASTINGS, University of California, Davis. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the rapporteurs and the National Academies.

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Contents

OVERVIEW

1 INTRODUCTION

2 EXAMPLES OF OBSERVATIONAL NEEDS

Breakout Discussion Highlights: Examples of Observational Needs at the Turbine Scale

Breakout Discussion Highlights: Examples of Observational Needs at the WEA Scale

Synthesis and Discussion

3 COMPONENTS OF A FIELD MONITORING PROGRAM

Breakout Discussion Highlights: Field Monitoring Components to Meet Observational Needs at the Turbine Scale

Breakout Discussion Highlights: Field Monitoring Components to Meet Observational Needs at the WEA Scale

Synthesis and Discussion

4 CURRENT AND POTENTIAL FUTURE ACTIVITIES

Existing and Planned Observations

Opportunities for Collaboration

REFERENCES

APPENDIX A: WORKSHOP AGENDA

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Box and Figures

BOX

1Important Components for a Field Monitoring Program

FIGURES

1Illustration of the scales of potential effects of wind energy development at the turbine, wind farm, and regional scales

2Schematic of the ecological effects of wind wakes and ocean wakes from wind turbines, which could potentially affect phytoplankton and zooplankton with cascading impacts on foraging by whales, fish, and birds

3High-frequency radar coverage in the Nantucket Shoals region, (a) without wind turbine interference and (b) with wind turbine interference

4Buoys and other fixed observational stations in the Nantucket Shoals region

5Data collected since 1995 from the Environmental Monitors on Lobster Traps and Large Trawlers (eMOLT) program

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Acronyms and Abbreviations

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