Poquoson, VA – WeatherFlow recently partnered with Rutgers University to install a multi-sensor set of instruments at a coastal site near Tuckerton NJ, where an earlier Rutgers-owned weather station had fallen into disrepair. WeatherFlow field engineers removed the old instruments and replaced them with a suite of instruments that included a sonic anemometer, a 3-D anemometer, air temperature, and pressure sensors. In addition, WeatherFlow installed one of its SecondWind Triton SODAR units, which will give a vertical profile of the atmosphere above the site up to 200 meters.
With the increased interest in offshore wind energy in New Jersey waters, there is a need to better understand the coastal atmosphere throughout the lower boundary layer, including not only the wind speed itself, but also atmospheric stability, turbulence, and the changes in wind speed and direction as you move vertically. All of these characteristics have an impact on the wind resource available in the coastal zone, which in turn impacts the design of the wind turbines that are being considered for use there. The project is set to run for at least one year and is expected to provide data that will be critical to engineers, policy makers, and investors.