Fraunhofer IWES has installed two lidar measuring buoys in the North Sea for a twelve-month meteorological campaign on behalf of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.
The units have been at their locations in the German Bight near the Dutch border since early September, according to the agency.
The buoys transmit data on wind speeds and directions as well as waves and currents and are monitored automatically, while engineers check their status remotely on a daily basis.
The agency added that the data is continuously checked for quality and plausibility.
Stephan Stone from Fraunhofer IWES said, “We are delighted to be conducting another measurement campaign of this kind for BSH and thus making a significant contribution to the expansion of renewable energies.”
The data will be used for the design, planning and modelling of offshore wind farms.
The agency said IWES has completed four similar campaigns in the German Bight, with data sets made publicly available for wind farm operators.