Tidal Current Data for San Juan Archipelago Energy Assessment

Featuring re-analyzed acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data and model output for tidal currents in the San Juan Archipelago, Washington. It includes processed products describing tidal current characteristics and power output estimates for notional turbines. The data underpins results from a TEAMER RFTS 3 project supported by the Department of Energy.

Use Cases

• Analyze tidal current characteristics for site selection of tidal turbines in the San Juan Archipelago.
• Estimate Annual Energy Production (AEP) for notional turbines deployed from surface platforms or the seabed.
• Validate Finite Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) output against NOAA CO-OPS ADCP observations.
• Assess Marine Hydrokinetic (MHK) energy resource potential using processed current and power data.

Strengths

• Data is derived from authoritative sources including NOAA CO-OPS and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's FVCOM model.
• Includes processed products specifically for tidal turbine characterization and power output estimation.
• Project is part of the formal TEAMER RFTS 3 (Request for Technical Support) program.

Limitations

• Specific data dimensions (rows, columns, file sizes) are not provided, limiting preliminary assessment of scale.
• Data is delivered in mixed formats (HTML, PDF, ZIP), requiring extraction and potential format conversion for analysis.
• The description focuses on processed products; access to the underlying raw ADCP and model data is unclear.

Provenance

Source

Department of Energy, via the TEAMER program.

Collection Method

Re-analysis of NOAA CO-OPS ADCP data and equivalent point data from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's FVCOM model.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-03-21.

Geography

San Juan Archipelago, Washington, within the Salish Sea and Strait of Georgia.