Data acquisition
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate is conducting geophysical pilot surveys for offshore wind installations on assignment from the Ministry of Energy. This data can provide a description of how suitable the seabed and subsurface are for establishing infrastructure for offshore wind farms.
These surveys are also crucial in order to quality-assure the data with a view towards public safety. The data will be made available to relevant stakeholders for the development of offshore wind once they have been fully processed and quality-assured.
Downloadable data
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has conducted geophysical pilot surveys for offshore wind installations in Sørlige Nordsjø II and on Utsira Nord in 2022 and 2023.
Data from the subsurface surveys in the first phase of Sørlige Nordsjø II can be downloaded from Diskos, a national data repository for exploration and production-related information from the Norwegian shelf.
Stakeholders who want to access the acquired data, NPD22100 (NPDid 10679) and NPD23100 (NPDid 10620), can go to the Diskos Public Portal.
Each survey contains seven data types and interpretation reports.
A total of 4481 km of data was acquired in 2022 and 2023 for the first phase of Sørlige Nordsjø II (eastern part). 3883 km of data has also been acquired in the western part of Sørlige Nordsjø II.
The preliminary survey for Utsira Nord started in 2023, and 3027 km of data was acquired. The plan is to complete the remaining mapping for the area (1505 km) in 2024.
Data types
- 2D Ultra-High Resolution (UHR), multi-channel seismic
- Sub-bottom profiles
- Multibeam echo sounder (MBES)
- MBES backscatter data
- MBES water column data
- Magnetometer data
- Side-scan sonar (SSS) data
Magnetometer data and MBES water column data will not be made available until an award takes place. As this point, the data will be made available to the stakeholder that will develop the area. Stakeholders will also gain access to the full version of the interpretation report.
Updated: 03/04/2024