A wind LiDAR (light detection and ranging) instrument has been installed alongside the causeway leading to Rutgers University Marine Field Station in Tuckerton, New Jersey.
The fully autonomous sensor platform, owned and operated by Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, will provide observations of wind profiles up to several hundred feet in a location directly on the land/sea boundary.
Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Shell and EDF, installed the LiDAR in collaboration with the Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RUCOOL) and the Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS).
The LiDAR will be in place for the next several years, collecting real-time weather observations contributing to ongoing research, monitoring modeling and data synthesis efforts of both Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind and Rutgers. This information will contribute to Rutgers’ research on sea breezes and coastal storms, as well as future research initiatives conducted by RUCOOL and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind.
Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, formed in December 2018, will develop a 183,353 acre lease area on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The lease area (OCS-0499) is located within the New Jersey Wind Energy Area. The Atlantic Shores offshore wind project is expected to go online in 2026.
Commenting on the installation of the LiDar, Jennifer Daniels, Development Director at Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, said: “As the holder of one of the largest offshore wind leases in the United States, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind is glad our industry can help support this critical research,” said 
Image Credit: Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind
“Measuring high-quality wind data is critical to accurately calculating how much energy our wind projects will produce, and we are happy to open our lease area for data collection that benefits not only us, but New Jersey and larger environmental research efforts. Together with Rutgers, we are helping to ensure New Jersey is a leader in a thriving, new green economy.”
“Offshore wind is a key piece of New Jersey’s green future, taking advantage of one of our greatest, untapped sources of renewable energy,” said Joseph Brodie, Director of Atmospheric Research at RUCOOL.
“Public-private partnerships like the one we’ve built with Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind -- sharing data, knowledge and resources -- enable all of our efforts to go farther. Through this collaboration, we are bringing New Jersey one step closer to a future powered by renewable energies while training the next generation of researchers and industry leaders and preserving our unique ocean resource.”
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