Cape Wind :: America's First Offshore Wind Farm on Nantucket Sound



Both traditional cup (left) and ultrasonic anemometers (right) are being used to measure wind speed, direction and variability.

What local residents and businesses are saying:

“We are keenly interested in the process of gathering high-quality environmental data from the Horseshoe Shoal data tower. The availability of accurate, state-of-the-art, real-time data on winds, currents, and waves will help not only the long-term decision process for site permitting and engineering, but also will provide data of value to scientists, engineers, students, and managers in New England."

Dennis Aubrey
President
Woods Hole Group
East Falmouth, MA

“The benefit received by the schools and colleges from the available data is substantial in that students can access local data, learn more about local weather patterns, and familiarize themselves with data gathering, data reduction and data presentation which is meaningful and timely.

We consider this to be a valuable asset to the community and to our future.”

Dr. Malcolm A. MacGregor
Head, Marine Safety and Environmental Protection
Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Buzzards Bay, MA

Gathering site-specific weather data is an important requirement for every wind park project, on land and offshore. The Scientific Monitoring Station currently erected on Horseshoe Shoal is providing comprehensive data for the area where the park will be sited, including wind, wave, tide height, current and water temperature information.

The tower is 196 feet tall and is measuring wind at three different levels. The data collected will provide information for the environmental research and design of the offshore wind park on Horseshoe Shoal. The instruments on the tower are powered by solar panels and a small wind turbine.

Cape Wind worked with several Cape Cod companies to build and erect the data tower including AGM Marine of Mashpee, Cape and Islands Steel of Hyannis, Woods Hole Group of East Falmouth, Patriot Party Boats of Falmouth and ESS Group, Inc. of Sandwich and Wellesley.

Click here to see photos of the scientific monitoring station.

Project Overview :: Measuring Offshore Conditions

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