Projects

Assessment of wave energy resource in the European and Mediterranean coastal zones using high-resolution altimetry products (WAPOSAL)

Duration: 02-07-2024 to 30-09-2025 (15 months)

Coordination: CENTEC - IST-ID

Funding Entity: European Space Agency (ESA)

Project Website: https://eo4society.esa.int/projects/waposal/

The goal of this project is to develop an innovative application of Earth Observation data to deliver a state-of-the-art database of wave renewable energy in European coastal zones, to support the EU Green Transition and make the European Union climate neutral in 2050. The global coverage of the altimetry constellation and the provision of significant wave height measurements, together with the capability of estimating wave periods, demonstrate that satellite altimeters are useful systems for estimating the site-specific wave energy potential. The proposal will introduce a novel methodology to compute wave power density based on a newly produced EO dataset that enables high-resolution multi-mission altimetry data in the coastal zone. To fulfill the goal of a novel European database of renewable wave energy, the project will reach the following objectives: obtain along-track wave period estimates in European coastal zones; obtain along-track wave power density estimates, its variability and trends; create a state-of-the-art dataset of average wave power density, wave power variability and wave power trend maps no only in the European coastal waters, but also in overseas territories. The main objective is the generation of a database of the wave power density along coastal zones using the high-resolution altimetry data from the OCRE-EO database (European Commission HORIZON2020 Open Clouds for Research Environment (OCRE) Earth Observation (EO)) available in the Altimetry Virtual Lab facility of the European Space Agency.

Project Team

Associated Publications