Miros’ Dry, Wave Radar Technology Delivers Accurate, Real-time Ocean Surface Measurements

Miros’ dry, wave radar technology delivers accurate, real-time ocean surface measurements without the maintenance and costs related to using equipment which is directly exposed to seawater.

Careful monitoring of the environment is paramount for offshore operations. Staying on top of when weather windows allow for efficient and safe operations is important. Traditionally relying on in-water sensors and weather forecasts has been considered good enough. However, as our customer Equinor experienced (you can read the case study here) the costs for renting and maintaining an in-water sensor, such as a buoy, can be both expensive and inefficient.

Benefits of a Dry Wave Radar

When operators* select environmental instrumentation for offshore operations their choice tends to fall on buoys or ADCPs because that’s the equipment they are used to. So why consider using dry, sensors when in-water sensors have delivered good results in the past? Miros’ wave radar technology introduces a host of benefits operators should consider when choosing equipment for measuring the state of the ocean:

Reliability of Wave Radars

Buoys are exposed to the harsh forces of the ocean which leads to easy damage and consequently risk of loss of data. The fact that dry wave and current radars are not situated in the water makes them more robust and a more reliable source of data.

Maintenance of Wave Radars

Miros’ wave and current radars are not directly exposed to seawater and therefore provide accurate, real-time ocean surface measurements without the risk of getting damaged by the wear and tear of the ocean. Hence, investing in a dry sensor saves operators the high maintenance costs related to traditional in-water sensors.

Accuracy of Wave Radars

The fact that sensors submerged in seawater are directly exposed to the forces being measured makes them an accurate source of data. However, several comparisons of data from Miros dry sensors and wave buoys manifest the same level of accuracy when measuring sea state.

Figure 1 – Data from real-life measurements on a floating installation in the North-Sea comparing Miros wave radar measurement to buoy measurements.

Cost

The annual costs related to renting a traditional wave buoy are currently between 120,000 and 170,000 USD. The average four-hours spent on each deployment and retrieval adds an additional expense. The potential savings of renting a wave radar from Miros are between 60-80%.

Miros’ dry, IoT sensor technology delivers accurate, real-time ocean surface measurements without the maintenance and costs related to using equipment which is directly exposed to seawater. The sensors are cloud-integrated making access to data easy, on- or off-shore and the upgrade of software seamless and cost-effective. Keeping your instrumentation dry is an option worth considering.