Dynamic soaring mechanisms in the ocean boundary layer

Toomer, Christine A.; Bonnin, Vincent; Benard, Emmanuel; Toomer, Chris; Moschetta, Jean Marc

Abstract

Copyright © 2016 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Dynamic soaring is a flying technique which extracts energy from an environment where wind gradients form, such as the air-sea interface above oceans that sees such gradients developing through multiple and combined phenomena. Models of wind-wave interactions are analysed in terms of their influence on the induced wind field, before selecting a purely sinusoidal peak wave from the wave spectrum and developing the related wind field using stable laminar theory. Dynamic soaring trajectories are then derived by optimising a nonlinear constrained problem that models the evolution of a point mass vehicle. Characteristic phases of dynamic soaring flight are evidenced out of the overall trajectories and compared to the flat-ocean case in order to conclude on the influence of waves regarding dynamic soaring performances.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 1, 2015
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Feb 1, 2016
• Journal: International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation
• Print ISSN: 1755-9758
• Electronic ISSN: 1755-9766
• Publisher: Inderscience
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 136-148
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJESMS.2016.075550
• Keywords: dynamic soaring, ocean boundary layer
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/912991
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJESMS.2016.075550
• Contract Date: Mar 21, 2016