Riverine hydrokinetic resource assessment using low cost winter imagery

Abstract Reducing the cost of hydrokinetic turbines is an important step in the commer-cialization of the technology. One of the costs of the implementation of hydrokinetic turbines is the selection of potential hydrokinetic sites. In this paper, it is proposed that site selection for a hydrokinetic turbine can be improved in river environments in Canada by the use of winter imagery that is available at little or no cost. This is of particular value to remote communities who power their community using diesel fuel, as some pay over $1.00 per kWh. It is shown that river sections that do not freeze during the winter have higher velocity magnitudes than sections that are covered with ice. The average velocity magnitude for open ice locations is found to be 1.09 m/s, with a standard deviation of 0.48 m/s. Ice covered locations were found to have an average velocity magnitude of 0.301 m/s. The relationship between river depth and velocity magnitude is shown to have a low correlation, with an R 2 value of 0.185.