Moorings deployed for Alaska wave energy research

ACEP’s researchers deploy a mooring in the Beaufort Sea (Photo: Nick Konefal/ACEP)

 
Researchers from the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) have deployed mooring equipment in Stefansson Sound in the Beaufort Sea as part of government-backed wave energy research project.

Aside from three oceanographic moorings that have been deployed, the researchers have also completed a bathymetric survey in the region.

In order to characterize the area, the scientists have additionally conducted arrays of water and sediment sampling, and conductivity, and temperature and depth casts.

Research will continue with the deployment of a fourth mooring, according to ACEP.

Once the work is complete in Stefansson Sound, researchers will travel west to Drew Point to deploy a mooring for Sandia National Labs and complete a bathymetric survey complemented with additional sampling, the center added.

The activities are part of a three-year project set for completion in 2020. The project is funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Sandia National Labs.