Oceans measurements for engineering design

Oceans Ltd. will present the technology being used to collect current and wave data offshore Newfoundland. The company has designed a data transmission system where current data collected by ADCP´s are transmitted acoustically to the surface by acoustic modems to a telemetry buoy which retransmits the data via RF communication link to the oil drilling platforms. The advantage and challenges of this system will be presented. The quality of the current data stored in the ADCP´s will be discussed with respect to the data gaps and the ocean environment, and the challenges it presents with respect to engineering design. Engineering design criteria also requires good measurements of the wave climate and utilized methodologies such as extremal analysis and peak enhancement factors. These parameters are being modified as more information becomes available.