PNNL

Alicia Mahon, wind energy program manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), served as guest editor of a special issue of the Marine Technology Society Journal.

The November/December 2022 issue of the journal focused on advancements in buoy technology—a topic she knows well. Before assuming the PNNL wind energy program manager role in January 2022, she managed PNNL’s lidar buoy program for several years.

Mahon, whose expertise was featured by PNNL in late 2022, compiled and edited the special issue in collaboration with two additional guest editors—Rick Cole of RDSEA International and Donald Peters of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

The issue is dedicated to technology sharing and learning in the highly specialized field of buoy systems and showcases commentaries, scientific notes, and technical papers from buoy technology leaders worldwide.

Topics range from analysis, buoy mooring development and implementation, temperature profile measurements, and more. The special issue also pays homage to two influential researchers in the fields of buoy technology and ocean observing who passed away in recent years—Walter Paul of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Hugh Milburn of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Mahon was also a co-author of one of the featured articles in the journal, “Use of a Compliant Tether to Decouple Observation Buoy Motion for Auxiliary Wave Power.” The article discusses a new technology that has the potential to boost auxiliary power of lidar buoys and minimally adversely affect oceanographic, meteorological, wind resource characterization, and other buoy measurements.

“Bringing the buoy research community together for this issue is a major step in showing the industry and others how research buoys can help significantly advance ocean observing, maritime safety, and environmental characterization,” said Mahon.

That research community includes buoy experts from the National Ocean Technology Center; Triton Systems, Inc.; EOM Offshore, LLC; Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; the National Data Buoy Center; Jiangsu University of Science and Technology; the Marine Design and Research Institute of China; the China Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory; the National Institute of Ocean Technology; NOAA; Lynker Technologies; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; RDSEA International, Inc.; Navocean Inc.; Florida Gulf Coast Institute; Think Tank, Inc.; and Down East Instrumentation.

Beyond compiling this special issue, in 2021 Mahon began serving a three-year term as general editor of the Marine Technology Society Journal and has been a frequent contributor. In 2020, she was the guest editor of a special issue for the journal, “Utilizing Offshore Resources for Renewable Energy Development.”