Analysis 02: OWF Effect on the Ocean - On the Effect of Offshore Wind Farms on the Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics - page 53

Fig. 5.3 12-turbine OWF effect (OWFr-REFr) on hydrographic conditions after 24 h operating
wind turbines, be aware of different colorbars. The effect is presented for (a1)-(a3) temperature,
(b1-b3) salinity, (c1-c3) density in the horizontal at surface (a1-c1) and along W-E (a2-c2) and
S-N (a3-c3) cross sections through the OWF, which are marked with solid lines in the first
domain. Thermocline is defined in 12-m depths ( dotted line in a2/a3-c2/c3), and the OWF is
placed in the middle of the model domain around x ¼ y ¼ 0

impact on the ecosystem. Beforehand, these vertical cells were durable, which will
be discussed later under Sect. 5.3 .
Besides hydrodynamic changes, the hydrographic parameters are affected too.
Figure 5.3 summarizes results of temperature, salinity, and density after 24 h
operating wind turbines, be aware of different colorbars. At surface, these variables
depict the wind field.
Here, an increased sea surface temperature (SST) in the wake zone of 0.2 Cis
recorded. The increase is adhered with a subsidence of surface elevation in the
reference run, which results in little cooler reference SST compared to OWF run.
The northern flank area is about 0.06 C cooler, while in the southern flank area,
where the main upwelling cell is located, a stronger decrease of 0.2 C appears.
Respectively, in those areas, the ocean becomes more/less salty with extreme
changes of 1-2 10 3 psu. Therefore, the wake area becomes less dense with