Research Portal

The Vectron2 Project: Turbulence Measurements for the In-stream Tidal Energy Industry

March 2019 – November 2021

The Vectron is a new sensor used for measuring turbulence velocity within a tidal turbine’s swept area.  The Vectron has been successfully prototyped, where next steps are to take the technology to the ‘industry-ready’ stage of development and the focus of this project.

The Pathway Program: Validating reliable environmental monitoring for ocean energy projects

April 2019 – October 2021

OERA created The Pathway Program to solve a critical problem impeding the in-stream tidal energy industry: a lack of reliable and validated technologies and methods to monitor and report fish-turbine interactions in high-flow, highly turbulent environments, leading to regulatory uncertainty and i

Environmental Monitoring System Development

November 2019 – April 2021

The Pathway Program - Technology Validation: Echosouders & Passive Acoustic Monitoring Device

Acceleration/Particle Velocity (PA/PV) Measurement System Evaluation in a Tidal Environment

February 2017 – December 2018

The objective of this project was designing and running a field experiment to test the performance of the Particle Acceleration/Particle Velocity (PA/PV) vector sensor.

Assessing Corrosion, Wear, Fatigue and VIV on Moorings and Cabling to Reduce Risk in Marine Operations

October 2017 – August 2018

The cost of cabling and moorings over the entire life of a tidal energy project is a significant proportion of total project expenditures and the potential failure of these components remains a major risk for the emerging tidal energy sector.

Geoscience » Spill Preparedness

Advanced Coastal Mapping to Support Hydrodynamic Modelling

April 2016 – June 2018

Nova Scotia’s Atlantic coast exhibits a variety of shorelines that may be vulnerable to contamination in the event of an offshore oil spill. In turn, variable currents, changing water levels, shoals, and exposed seaside conditions make effective spill response difficult for tidal inlets.

Going with the Flow II: Using Drifters to Address Uncertainties in the Spatial Variation of Tidal Flows

October 2017 – June 2018

Drifters are one of the oldest, simplest and most reliable methods for measuring ocean currents. Drifters also provide a simple, low risk platform from which to gather acoustic information along flow streamlines or ‘drift tracks’.

Turbulence Dissipation Rates from Horizontal Velocity Profiles at Mid-Depth in Fast Tidal Flows

December 2017

This study characterizes the turbulence in a tidal channel in the Bay of Fundy that has been identified for development as a tidal power resource.

Drones and Drifters – The Great Pumpkin Race

October 2016 – July 2017

This project tested and developed a new low-cost approach to collecting oceanographic measurements for use in tidal initial site assessments. The plan combines one of the oldest tools in oceanography, the drifter, with one of the newest, the drone.

FORCE Data Management System/User Interface

April – June 2017

This project defined a Data Management System (DMS) and user interface solution for use by FORCE.