Date of Award

Fall 2025

Project Type

Thesis

Program or Major

Ocean Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

Nathan Laxague

Second Advisor

Douglas Vandemark,

Third Advisor

Thomas Lippmann

Abstract

The Air-Sea Flux Buoy (ASFB) is part of a larger effort implemented by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) to characterize the dynamics of the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). The ASFB samples the 3D wind velocities, air temperature, and water vapor to derive the air-sea eddy-covariance fluxes of momentum, heat, and humidity. The solar radiation, water temperature, rain intensity, barometric pressure, and water salinity are sampled to estimate the bulk-parameterized stability conditions. A GNSS inertial navigation system enables centimeter-scale motion correction and an onboard cellular modem provides real-time telemetry. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, hydrostatic analysis, mooring simulations, and empirical and simulated derivations of the heave RAO substantiate the measurements, further characterize the buoy motion, and estimate the wave spectrum. The ASFB was deployed from July to November 2024. The buoy was moored to a catenary chain 1 km offshore of the New Hampshire seacoast. The buoy-derived estimates of the vertical wind profile are compared to measurements made by a meteorological drone to examine the application of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory under different stability conditions.

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