Structural instrumentation and monitoring of the Block Island Offshore Wind Farm

This work presents the design and installation of a continuous monitoring system for one of the offshore wind turbines in the Block Island Wind Farm, which is located 6.1 km off the coast of Block Island in Rhode Island, USA. The instrumentation plan includes wired and wireless accelerometers, strain gauges, and inclinometers. Considerations for the instrumentation design are discussed, including the type, number and location of sensors, as well as some of the challenges in the installation of sensors. The process of transferring data, samples of collected data, automated system identification and some preliminary results are presented.