Estimation Of Wave Energy Of The Northwest Passage During The Navigation Period In Recent 20 Years

With global warming and the melting of sea ice,the opening of the Northwest Passage has become possible.The best time for navigation is from August to October.The melting of sea ice has led to an increase in open water,and wave has become a new physical phenomenon during the navigation period in the Northwest Passage.A numerical model of waves in the ice-water coexistence sea is established to study the wave energy flux density distribution and estimate the wave energy storage in the Northwest Passage,which can provide a scientific basis for the location of wave energy power stations along the route.In this paper,a numerical wave model considering the effects of sea ice and tides is established by SWAN and FVCOM and applied to the wave energy analysis of the northwest passage.The sea ice concentration data are in good agreement with the satellite remote sensing data of the same period,the relative error between the simulated mean current velocity and the measured data is not more than 5%.The relative errors between the simulated mean wave energy density and the measured values do not exceed 8%,respectively.It shows that the numerical model established in this paper can reasonably describe the hydrodynamic characteristics of the icewater coexistence in the northwest passage.On this basis,the wave energy flux density distribution of the Northwest Passage during the navigable period of the last 20 years was simulated.Sea ice mainly appeared in the northern region of the Northwest Passage,and the average sea ice density in the last 20 years ranged from 0 to 1,the average ice thickness ranged from0 m to 4.56 m,and the maximum frequencies of effective wave energy flux density were 56.15%,concentrated in the Lancaster Sound,the second is 28.04%,concentrated in Amundsen Gulf.Comparing the effects of sea ice in different wind directions on the wave energy flux density in the Northwest Passage,it is found that the sea ice is mainly located in the northern part of the Northwest Passage.When the wind direction is south,it does not cause a significant reduction of the effective wind area,and therefore does not cause a significant reduction of the wave energy flux density in the ice-free area of the Northwest Passage,at most not more than 5%.However,when the wind direction is northerly,the presence of sea ice will cause a significant reduction in the effective wind area,resulting in a reduction of wave energy in the ice-free sea,up to a maximum of 62%.Considering the distribution of sea ice,effective wave energy density and wave energy reserves in the Northwest Passage in the past 20 years,it is found that the frequency of sea ice in Lancaster Sound and Amundsen Gulf is low,40.81% and53.09% respectively,with average wave energy reserves up to 8000 k W ·h/ m and3000 k W ·h/ m,which are suitable for the location of wave energy power stations.