Operational wind plants increase planetary boundary layer height: an observational study

Abraham, Aliza; Puccioni, Matteo; Jordan, Arianna; Maric, Emina; Bodini, Nicola; Hamilton, Nicholas; Letizia, Stefano; Klein, Petra M.; Smith, Elizabeth N.; Wharton, Sonia; Gero, Jonathan; Jacob, Jamey D.; Krishnamurthy, Raghavendra; Newsom, Rob K.; Pekour, Mikhail; Radünz, William; Moriarty, Patrick

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1681-2025

Articles | Volume 10, issue 8

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1681-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

NAWEA/WindTech 2024

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1681-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 10, issue 8

Research article

|

20 Aug 2025

Research article |

| 20 Aug 2025

Operational wind plants increase planetary boundary layer height: an observational study

Aliza Abraham, Matteo Puccioni, Arianna Jordan, Emina Maric, Nicola Bodini, Nicholas Hamilton, Stefano Letizia, Petra M. Klein, Elizabeth N. Smith, Sonia Wharton, Jonathan Gero, Jamey D. Jacob, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Rob K. Newsom, Mikhail Pekour, William Radünz, and Patrick Moriarty

Data sets

AWAKEN Site A1 - NREL Ceilometer (Vaisala CL51) / Derived Data N. Hamilton and D. Zalkind https://doi.org/10.21947/2221789

AWAKEN Site B - NREL Thermodynamic profiler (Assist II-11) / TROPoe retrieval S. Letizia https://doi.org/10.21947/2000686

AWAKEN Site C1a - NREL Thermodynamic profiler (Assist II-12) / TROPoe retrieval S. Letizia https://doi.org/10.21947/2000688

AWAKEN Site G - NREL Thermodynamic profiler (Assist II-10) / TROPoe retrieval S. Letizia https://doi.org/10.21947/2000689

AWAKEN Site A1 - ARM Scanning Lidar (Halo XR) / Derived Data - Wind Statistics S. Letizia et al. https://doi.org/10.21947/1999171

AWAKEN Site H - ARM Scanning Lidar (Halo XR) / Derived Data - Wind Statistics S. Letizia et al. https://doi.org/10.21947/1999181

Site A5 - PNNL Surface Flux Station / Daily Fluxes M. Pekour https://doi.org/10.21947/1899848

Site G - PNNL Surface Flux Station / Daily Fluxes M. Pekour https://doi.org/10.21947/1899846

Site A1 - PNNL Surface Flux Station / Daily Fluxes M. Pekour https://doi.org/10.21947/1991103

Site A2 - PNNL Surface Flux Station / Daily Fluxes M. Pekour https://doi.org/10.21947/1899850

Short summary

This study is the first to use real-world atmospheric measurements to show that large wind plants can increase the height of the planetary boundary layer, the part of the atmosphere near the surface where life takes place. The planetary boundary layer height governs processes like pollutant transport and cloud formation and is a key parameter for modeling the atmosphere. The results of this study provide important insights into interactions between wind plants and their local environment.