ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF A BUOY MOUNTED WIND PROFILER FOR REMOTE MEASUREMENT OF OCEAN WINDS

WE REQUEST FUNDS TO SUPPORT RESEARCH FOR INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE WAYS TO EXTEND RADAR WIND PROFILER TECHNOLOGY TO MEASURE HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL WINDS OVER THE OCEAN. BENEFITS OF DEVELOPING OCEAN BASED WIND PROFILERS INCLUDE IMPROVED WEATHER FORECASTING, TROPICAL STORM MONITORING, ROUTING OF SHIPS AT SEA TO REDUCE FUEL COST, AND TACTICAL BALLISTIC TRAJECTORY CORRECTION. THIS RESEARCH WILL FOCUS ON THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH MOUNTING A WIND PROFILER RADAR SYSTEM ON A BUOY AT SEA. SPECIFICALLY, PARAMETERS SUCH AS OPERATING FREQUENCY, ANTENNA SIZE, BUOY SIZE, AND POWER CONSUMPTION WILL BE EXAMINED. A MAJOR THRUST OF THIS STUDY WILL BE AN ANLYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF PLATFORM MOTION UPON THE WIND SPEED MEASUREMENT, AND POSSIBLE WAYS TO COMPENSATE THAT MOTION. QUADRANT ENGINEERING WILL DELIVER AN OCEAN WIND PROFILER DESIGN AT THE CONCLUSION OF PHASE I AND WILL PROPOSE TO BUILD A PROFILER SYSTEM DURING PHASE II.