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Analysis of Wave Power

Wave power analysis from data recorded on offshore buoys located in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

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Although most people don’t think of locations like New Hampshire and Rhode Island as popular destinations for surfing, wave energy data obtained from the National Data Buoy Center shows that on occasion there is significant wave power. These wave buoys are placed approximately 30 nautical miles from the coastline and record data such as significant wave height, wave period and swell direction.

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https://magicseaweed.com/help/forecast-table/swell
https://magicseaweed.com/help/forecast-table/swell

This information recorded from the buoy can be used to calculate the Power of a wave. The goal of this research is to discover which location, either Rhode Island or New Hampshire, experienced larger wave power in 2019.

As seen in the figure below, Frequency of Wave Power for NDBC 44098 and NDBC 44097, the mean wave power for Rhode Island is slightly large than New Hampshire. The mean wave power per unit crest in Rhode Island for 2019 was calculated to be approximately 5265 watts whereas the mean wave power in New Hampshire was calculated to be about 4760 watts. The maximum wave power for New Hampshire is approximately 40619 watts and for Rhode Island it is 36980 watts.

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Due to the slightly different geographical locations, I looked to further analyze the wave power in each location based on the month of year in 2019. For both New Hampshire and Rhode Island, the lowest wave power was observed in July and the largest wave power was observed in October. September has the largest difference in wave power between the two states. This is typical for hurricane season as Rhode Island has more exposure to the south whereas New Hampshire faces east. Both states show increasing wave power in the fall that lasts through the winter.

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The two key pieces of information used to derive the wave power per unit crest included significant wave height and wave period. As seen in the figure below, Correlation of Wave Height and Wave Period (NDBC 44098), there is no correlation between the variables wave height and wave period.

This data could be used for multiple purposes. Wave energy is currently being explored as a possible source of renewable energy. If a researcher expanded this to a larger selection of wave buoys, they would be able to determine the most feasible location to deploy a wave energy buoy. Many countries use large vessels as a means of transporting goods. Using historical data could help determine the safest time of year to transport expensive items. These offshore buoys also collect data for ocean temperature which could be used in analyzing the effects of global warming.

In conclusion, Rhode Island is determined to have a larger wave power than New Hampshire.


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