DeTect Inc. is part of a collaboration whose efforts include an 18-month initiative to gather extensive weather, ocean, and wildlife data near the sites of active offshore wind farms and lease areas off the coast of the northeast United States.
DeTect Inc’s involvement includes the MERLIN True3D radar system specifically designed for offshore vessel and buoy deployments. The radar system is designed to handle the complexities of collecting avian and bat movements while compensating for the dynamics of being on a moving platform.
The radar system is coupled with an electronic stabilization system that is designed for the dynamics of the ocean environment correcting the collected track data in real-time data to compensate for heading, roll, pitch, and yaw. It is a full 360 degree system with track updates of 4 timers per second.
The system collects critical information on the positional and altitudinal information of airborne targets which permits the radar system to collect valuable data on the bird/bat flux rates as well as wildlife movement patterns and associated altitudes.
Involved are DeTect, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
This effort is part of the third phase of the Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP3), which will obtain extensive met-ocean-environmental observations onboard an autonomous moored barge to improve the design and operation of offshore wind turbines and wind farms.
DeTect’s proven technology can be integrated with radar-directed electro-optic, infrared (EOIR) camera system. The system comes in a fixed or mobile design, fully self-contained with all system hardware, software and integration included.