Farfield Environment

Farfield Environment

Farfield is often composed of areas more than 10 meters distant from the device or array. While the farfield environment is similar to the nearfield habitat in that they both can be affected by the same stressors, the farfield environment can have more complex changes that are difficult to measure/monitor. For example, scouring caused by an offshore wind monopole in the nearfield habitat can be seen on a small temporal scale due to the physical presence of that monopole. The effect that the monopole has on the farfield environment can be far more complex and may only occur after a long period of time. The severity of impact that a stressor has on the farfield environment also depends on the scale of the project; a larger scale commercial project which causes more removal of ocean energy will likely have a greater impact on the farfield environment than a smaller scale pilot project.