World’s first floating microwave radiometer complements floating LiDAR

AXYS Technologies Inc. (AXYS) announced that design work with Boulder Environmental Sciences & Technology (BEST) is underway to deploy the world’s first buoy based microwave profiling radiometer on a floating platform, the FLiDAR WindSentinel.

Funded by the United States Department of Energy, the BEST Marine Profiling Radiometer (MPR) is the world's first microwave profiling radiometer specifically designed for deployment on a buoy. Once completed, the system will enable users to measure vertical profiles of temperature and humidity within the atmospheric boundary layer and up to 10km above the floating platform, in addition to wind profiles up to 200m provided by the LiDAR. A microwave radiometer provides the most economical (with respect to cost, power requirements, instrument size) measurements of temperature and humidity profiles.

These measurements will improve weather forecasting and lead to better site evaluation and energy production while optimizing the proficiency of existing wind farms. There are no consistent systems that provide such measurements on a regular basis and so the newly observed data will lead to an improved understanding of the interaction and physics of the ocean and atmosphere. The FLiDAR WindSentinel and MPR will improve accuracy, reduce costs and allow for atmospheric observations at optimal locations.

“This is a significant first step towards the commercialization of the MPR,” says Marian Klein, CEO of BEST. “Once we have completed this work we will be ready to deploy the prototype and commence system testing."

"We are always looking for new applications and value we can bring to our client base,” says Terry Tarle, AXYS President & CEO. “Accurate temperature and humidity measurements will give clients in sectors such as offshore wind an important new data set to help them reduce the cost of offshore energy development. We look forward to working with BEST on this important initiative."