Page 204 - Fundamentals of Ocean Renewable Energy Generating Electricity From The Sea

Chapter 8

Ocean Modelling for Resource

Characterization

In situ measurement campaigns are costly, particularly in the environments,
which, by their very nature, are characterized by the strong tidal currents
or energetic waves that are suitable for generating electricity. Even the best-
funded offshore energy operations suffer from logistical difficulties when it
comes to making field measurements in remote locations, and where specialist
instruments, vessels, and expertise are required to gather, process, and interpret
data. In addition, field campaigns take time; for example, several months of data
are often required to characterize tidal conditions at a site, and often several
years or longer of wave data to characterize the interannual and intraannual
variabilities in the wave climate. Under many of these circumstances, ocean
modelling is a commonly used and economic tool in resource characterization,
which can be used to generate long-time series or understand how the resource
varies under hypothetical scenarios such as climate change, extreme events, or
how the resource will be influenced by energy extraction. Ocean models can
be used at all stages of project development, but are particularly useful at the
early scoping stages, prior to detailed site selection and investment in costly
field campaigns. However, it should be stressed that models are only as good
as their input data, and it is always important to parameterize and validate such
models with in situ measurements.
This chapter will develop your understanding of the terminology and
different types of model used for resource characterization, methods of model
validation, and limitations to modelling. After studying the chapter, you should
be familiar with a wide range of modelling concepts and techniques, and form an
appreciation of model preprocessing and postprocessing, and model validation,
as well as gaining insights into how ocean models work, rather than treating
them as mysterious ‘black boxes’.

8.1 GENERIC FEATURES OF OCEAN MODELS

There are many features that are common to the majority of ocean models, for
example, grid types, discretization, and boundary conditions; these features are
introduced in this section.
Fundamentals of Ocean Renewable Energy. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-810448-4.00008-2
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 193