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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Physical Oceanography
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1465634

Detecting Offshore Wind Farm-Induced Wind Wake Signatures on Sea Surface Using MODIS Data

Provisionally accepted
Weiye Yu Weiye Yu 1Pu Guo Pu Guo 2Jianting Du Jianting Du 3Zhan Lian Zhan Lian 1*
  • 1 College of Science, Shantou University, Shantou, China
  • 2 Marine Environmental Engineering Center, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 3 DHI, Hørsholm, Denmark

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Offshore wind farms (OWFs) generate extensive wind wakes in their leeward areas, which can induce marine upwelling and downwelling. These processes significantly affect marine stratification and ecosystems, leaving detectable patterns on the sea surface. By utilizing MODIS data, we analyzed six representative OWFs worldwide to identify these wake signatures. Notably, we observed pronounced signatures near an OWF located in the coastal waters of Jiangsu Province, China. Conversely, no coherent wake signatures were detected at other selected European and Chinese OWFs. This absence may be attributed to inactive upwelling, weak marine stratification, unsteady wind directions, and land-sea distribution. This research offers a fresh perspective on the environmental impacts of OWFs and, for the first time, underscores the potential of global gridded satellite dataset in detecting OWF-induced wind wake signatures.

    Keywords: offshore wind farm1, upwelling2, sea surface signature3, remote sensing4, MODIS5

    Received: 16 Jul 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yu, Guo, Du and Lian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zhan Lian, College of Science, Shantou University, Shantou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.