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- Written by: Tatjana Kokina
- Category: Blog (Engineering)
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Since the mobile research station and the mobile workshop have arrived at Inis Méaín in August 2020, a lot of progress has been made. This amazing progress is due to the hard work of the project engineer, Arnaud, and the help from the people of the island.
This was my first trip to the island, after working at Basecamp, almost a year ago. It was amazing to see how much the project infrastructure has developed, and I was eager to do some hands-on work.
I have arrived on the island at midday, and almost constantly experienced the islands hospitality. After getting of the ferry, I was straight away asked by the locals if I needed help, or a lift, and if everything was ok. I was welcomed to the island by Arnaud, who had already spent most of the week on the island. First, we stopped at the mobile workshop, where I got the grand tour - discovering the workspace, shelter area, and studying a very detailed map of Inis Méaín. We discussed the work plan for the next two days, taking the unpredictable weather into account. Next, we travelled to the mobile research station. As we arrived, a stunning rainbow appeared over Gregory's Sound, and the stone walls were 'singing' with the incredible winds. The location is not only breath-taking, it is positioned in a way that would allow collecting multiple streams of wave data: from video to vibration, and everything in between. The station is now equipped with solar panels, a generator, and a wind generator is scheduled to be installed in the coming weeks. The station is becoming a central point that will gather all the vital data and transmit it to the mainland.
Read more: Progress on the Mobile Research Station at Inis Méaín
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- Written by: Arnaud Disant
- Category: Blog (Engineering)
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Today, our Mobile Research Module and the Workshop Module have arrived to Inis Meaín. Thanks to Rory Beatty and the crew of MV Chateau-Thierry, we have crossed over to the Aran Islands the most important pieces of engineering of our research project. The containers are loaded with instruments and all sorts of tools that will be needed for our project. For the past few days basecamp was like Cap Canaveral before the launch of a space mission... We tried not to forget anything we would be needing over the coming weeks.
Patrick Faherty on the island of Inis Meaín has accepted to host our containers for the forthcoming years. He took personnaly in charge the containers upon arrival. Our project is receiving strong support from the island community.
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- Written by: James Steer
- Category: Blog (Engineering)
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Having joined the HIGHWAVE project as a post-doc in October 2019 I unfortunately missed the group field trip that year. Therefore, two weeks ago, on Thursday 20th August, I took my first drive to Connemara and met Arnaud, the project engineer, at the basecamp just outside Rossaveel. We spoke about the coming two days and what we had planned. We planned to spend the rest of Thursday on the mainland and Friday on Inis Meáin.
Read more: James' First Field Trip to Connemara and Inis Meáin (Inishmaan)
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- Written by: Arnaud Disant
- Category: Blog (Engineering)
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Portable Observation Devices or POD for short is our response to h
ostile environment, salt, wind, rain when it comes to observe waves and record data near the edge of the cliffs. JFC Marine in Tuam has accepted to help us manufacturing from recycled plastic a robust sustainable reinforced shelter for our instruments.
Our PODs will come in two different flavours, MINI and MAXI, more on this soon... keep tuned...
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- Written by: Daniel Pelaez-Zapata
- Category: Blog (Engineering)
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As part of my PhD training, I had the opportunity to visit the Basecamp, located in the west coast of Ireland. The main goal of this visit was to get familiar with the key places where we plan to deploy sensors and instruments to measure breaking waves and their impact on cliffs. The visit also allowed me to be introduced to the new terms and concepts regarding wireless communication, an essential part of the HIGHWAVE project.
Read more: Field trip - One week on the West Coast of Ireland
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- Written by: Arnaud Disant
- Category: Blog (Engineering)
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After several weeks of bad weather, we are finally getting an opportunity to head to Rock Island (North West tip of Inis Mór). We have chartered MFV Sean Maír and her skipper Arek. We will be testing today for the first time our new Spotter manufactured by Sofar Ocean in the US. These miniature databuoy have all the features of the large metbuoys. We intend to assess the scientific worthiness of this instrument over a period of six months. We have aquired two spotters nicknamed WANDERER and EXPLORER. According the the manufacturer and the Commissionners of Irish Lights (CIL) we are first bringing these buoys to Ireland.
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- Written by: Tatjana Kokina
- Category: Blog (Engineering)
- Hits: 2323
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- Written by: Tatjana Kokina
- Category: Blog (Engineering)
- Hits: 1425
Part of the HIGHWAVE project is to harvest real-time data in situ to build more robust and accurate models.
Analysing the data is one part of the job, but harvesting it is another and a very important one. When one spends time at the desk in the office, it can be very beneficial to go and see and participate in data gathering.
The process is not as easy as some might imagine. There is a vast amount of preparation that comes even before going out and collecting measurements. Good spots need to be picked; therefore, the area needs to be explored. Instruments must be assembled and tailored to suit the environment. Every detail can become crucial once in the field. From right location for the weather station, to preventing the camera lens getting rain and sea water drops on it.