The wave power in the Gulf of Mexico was analyzed, using 42 years (1979–2020) of simulated data, with ERA-5 winds to force the WAVEWATCH III wave model. The model was successfully validated with three NDBC buoys, 42,055, 42,001 and 42,002. Comparison of significant wave heights obtained from the Jason-2, Cryosat-2, and Saral satellites showed good mean correlation coefficients and root mean squares. The spatial distribution of wave power was studied, as well as its seasonal variability. The region studied has moderate availability of wave power with marked seasonality. A multi-criteria MCA approach, including both sea state and wave energy converters (WECs), was then applied. Nine virtual sites were selected for the study and the AAHPA device gave best results in 7 virtual sites and the Wavestar device in the remaining two. The technology of these two devices, a system of oscillating buoys, is the most viable technology for the Gulf of Mexico.

A self-contained instrument, the Autonomously Recording Inverted Echo Sounder (ARIES II), carrying two 250-kHz beam side-scan sonars and with the capacity to record sonar data sampled at 3.2 kHz for 168 h with the sonars operating with a pulse repetition rate of 2 Hz, has been constructed and tested in a mooring deployment that lasted for 25 days near the edge of the continental shelf west of Scotland. The mean water depth was 146 m. ARIES II was positioned at a mean transducer depth of 34.6 m with sonars directed upward at 20° to the horizontal to obtain acoustic returns from targets at or near the sea surface. The instrument was preprogrammed to record continuously over periods of 2, 4, and 13 h, the last to cover the M2 tidal cycle dominant in the area. Sonographs are presented to illustrate observations of surface waves and wave groups, internal solitons, rain showers, and Langmuir circulation. An analysis is made of the effects of surface waves, currents, and internal waves on the instrument... Abstract A self-contained instrument, the Autonomously Recording Inverted Echo Sounder (ARIES II), carrying two 250-kHz beam side-scan sonars and with the capacity to record sonar data sampled at 3.2 kHz for 168 h with the sonars operating with a pulse repetition rate of 2 Hz, has been constructed and tested in a mooring deployment that lasted for 25 days near the edge of the continental shelf west of Scotland. The mean water depth was 146 m. ARIES II was positioned at a mean transducer depth of 34.6 m with sonars directed upward at 20° to the horizontal to obtain acoustic returns from targets at or near the sea surface. The instrument was preprogrammed to record continuously over periods of 2, 4, and 13 h, the last to cover the M2 tidal cycle dominant in the area. Sonographs are presented to illustrate observations of surface waves and wave groups, internal solitons, rain showers, and Langmuir circulation. An analysis is made of the effects of surface waves, currents, and internal waves on the instrument...