SELKIE Collaboration to Share Current Data from Irish Sea

Researchers at Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions (GDG) and University College Cork (UCC) have deployed an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) to obtain ocean current data from a location of interest in the Irish Sea. This survey is part of a collaboration between Selkie Work Package 5 and an Irish Research Council-funded PhD project, and will produce data which can be used to validate a broad range of ocean engineering models.

The ADCP, which was leased from the Marine Institute and deployed from the RV Celtic Explorer in December 2022, will record current speeds and directions at different water depths over a period of 35-42 days near Arklow Bank, Co. Wicklow (52.7536, -5.9381). Once recovered, the data will be processed and made available open source via a Selkie repository, where it can be accessed and utilised free of charge by marine energy stakeholders.

The survey was led by Shauna Creane, who is a Senior Metocean Scientist at GDG and a PhD Candidate at UCC. Shauna will use the data in her sediment transport and geomorphological assessment studies and examine the prospects for the deployment of offshore renewable energy systems in the Irish Sea. Her latest research is available here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shauna-Creane.

Given the lack of publicly available current data for Irish waters, this dataset should also prove useful to researchers and developers in the Selkie network who can use the data to validate their own models of marine energy resources or device performance.

The ADCP data is expected to be made available at the end of Q1 2023. For further information, please contact Work Package 5 Lead Paul Bonar at pbonar@gdgeo.com.