Abstract
The Scottish Government, through the Offshore Wind Directorate, commissioned the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) to undertake a project to provide recommendations for designing a programme of sustained observations of physical and biogeochemical water column processes. This project’s objective is to improve the evidence base and support the sustainable development of the offshore wind (OW) industry within, but not limited to, the Scottish sector of the North Sea. The project included a review of the current state of knowledge about the North Sea water column structure, previous and ongoing observational programmes, and current efforts in understanding the interaction between fast-growing, large-scale infrastructures and the ocean environment. This review highlighted existing data, knowledge gaps, and the role that models could play. These ultimately feed into recommendations for the appropriate methodology necessary to assess the potential impact of offshore wind farms (OWFs) (and especially floating offshore wind farms, FLOW) being developed in deeper seasonally stratified shelf sea waters. These impacts could include changes to the physical and biogeochemical properties of the water column, which could impact the wider ecosystem.