Articles | Volume 10, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1681-2025
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1681-2025
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

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Cited articles

Abraham, A. and Hong, J.: Operational-dependent wind turbine wake impact on surface momentum flux, Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev., 144, 111021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111021, 2021. a
Acevedo, O. C. and Fitzjarrald, D. R.: The early evening surface-layer transition: Temporal and spatial variability, J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 2650–2667, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2001)058<2650:TEESLT>2.0.CO;2, 2001. a
Armstrong, A., Burton, R. R., Lee, S. E., Mobbs, S., Ostle, N., Smith, V., Waldron, S., and Whitaker, J.: Ground-level climate at a peatland wind farm in Scotland is affected by wind turbine operation, Environ. Res. Lett., 11, 044024, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/044024, 2016. a
Baars, H., Ansmann, A., Engelmann, R., and Althausen, D.: Continuous monitoring of the boundary-layer top with lidar, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 7281–7296, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-8-7281-2008, 2008. a
Baidya Roy, S. and Traiteur, J. J.: Impacts of wind farms on surface air temperatures, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 107, 17899–17904, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1000493107, 2010. a
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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.
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