The large-scale impact of anthropogenic mixing by offshore wind turbine foundations in the shallow North Sea
Structure drag from offshore wind turbines and its physical impacts on the marine environment of the German Bight are investigated in this study. The flow past vertical cylinders, such as wind turbine foundations, and associated turbulent mixing has long been studied, but questions remain about anti...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1178330/full |
| _version_ | 1797828986761379840 |
|---|---|
| author | Nils Christiansen Jeffrey R. Carpenter Ute Daewel Nobuhiro Suzuki Corinna Schrum Corinna Schrum |
| author_facet | Nils Christiansen Jeffrey R. Carpenter Ute Daewel Nobuhiro Suzuki Corinna Schrum Corinna Schrum |
| author_sort | Nils Christiansen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Structure drag from offshore wind turbines and its physical impacts on the marine environment of the German Bight are investigated in this study. The flow past vertical cylinders, such as wind turbine foundations, and associated turbulent mixing has long been studied, but questions remain about anticipated regional implications of offshore wind infrastructure on physical and biogeochemical conditions. Here, we present two existing modeling approaches for simulating wind turbine foundation effects in regional ocean models and discuss the problematic use of very high resolution in hydrostatic modeling. By implementing a low-resolution structure drag parameterization in an unstructured-grid model, we demonstrate the impacts of monopile drag on hydrodynamic conditions, validated against recent in-situ measurements. Although the anthropogenic mixing is confined at wind farm sites, our simulations show that structure-induced mixing affects much larger, regional scales. The additional turbulence production emerges as the driving mechanism behind the monopile impacts, leading to changes in both the current velocities and stratification, with magnitudes of about 10%, similar in magnitude to regional annual and interannual variabilities. This study provides new insights into the hydrodynamic impact of offshore wind farms at their current development levels and emphasizes the need for further research in view of potential restructuring of the future coastal environment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:13:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2ac76960522e47d3a7e23555f4342eee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:13:11Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-2ac76960522e47d3a7e23555f4342eee2023-05-12T05:54:53ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452023-05-011010.3389/fmars.2023.11783301178330The large-scale impact of anthropogenic mixing by offshore wind turbine foundations in the shallow North SeaNils Christiansen0Jeffrey R. Carpenter1Ute Daewel2Nobuhiro Suzuki3Corinna Schrum4Corinna Schrum5Institute of Coastal Systems - Analysis and Modeling, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht, GermanyInstitute of Coastal Systems - Analysis and Modeling, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht, GermanyInstitute of Coastal Systems - Analysis and Modeling, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht, GermanyInstitute of Coastal Systems - Analysis and Modeling, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht, GermanyInstitute of Coastal Systems - Analysis and Modeling, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht, GermanyInstitute of Oceanography, Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, GermanyStructure drag from offshore wind turbines and its physical impacts on the marine environment of the German Bight are investigated in this study. The flow past vertical cylinders, such as wind turbine foundations, and associated turbulent mixing has long been studied, but questions remain about anticipated regional implications of offshore wind infrastructure on physical and biogeochemical conditions. Here, we present two existing modeling approaches for simulating wind turbine foundation effects in regional ocean models and discuss the problematic use of very high resolution in hydrostatic modeling. By implementing a low-resolution structure drag parameterization in an unstructured-grid model, we demonstrate the impacts of monopile drag on hydrodynamic conditions, validated against recent in-situ measurements. Although the anthropogenic mixing is confined at wind farm sites, our simulations show that structure-induced mixing affects much larger, regional scales. The additional turbulence production emerges as the driving mechanism behind the monopile impacts, leading to changes in both the current velocities and stratification, with magnitudes of about 10%, similar in magnitude to regional annual and interannual variabilities. This study provides new insights into the hydrodynamic impact of offshore wind farms at their current development levels and emphasizes the need for further research in view of potential restructuring of the future coastal environment.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1178330/fulloffshore wind energywind turbineswakesturbulent mixingstratificationmodeling |
| spellingShingle | Nils Christiansen Jeffrey R. Carpenter Ute Daewel Nobuhiro Suzuki Corinna Schrum Corinna Schrum The large-scale impact of anthropogenic mixing by offshore wind turbine foundations in the shallow North Sea Frontiers in Marine Science offshore wind energy wind turbines wakes turbulent mixing stratification modeling |
| title | The large-scale impact of anthropogenic mixing by offshore wind turbine foundations in the shallow North Sea |
| title_full | The large-scale impact of anthropogenic mixing by offshore wind turbine foundations in the shallow North Sea |
| title_fullStr | The large-scale impact of anthropogenic mixing by offshore wind turbine foundations in the shallow North Sea |
| title_full_unstemmed | The large-scale impact of anthropogenic mixing by offshore wind turbine foundations in the shallow North Sea |
| title_short | The large-scale impact of anthropogenic mixing by offshore wind turbine foundations in the shallow North Sea |
| title_sort | large scale impact of anthropogenic mixing by offshore wind turbine foundations in the shallow north sea |
| topic | offshore wind energy wind turbines wakes turbulent mixing stratification modeling |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1178330/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nilschristiansen thelargescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT jeffreyrcarpenter thelargescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT utedaewel thelargescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT nobuhirosuzuki thelargescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT corinnaschrum thelargescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT corinnaschrum thelargescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT nilschristiansen largescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT jeffreyrcarpenter largescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT utedaewel largescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT nobuhirosuzuki largescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT corinnaschrum largescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea AT corinnaschrum largescaleimpactofanthropogenicmixingbyoffshorewindturbinefoundationsintheshallownorthsea |