Multi-scale simulations of wind farm impacts on nighttime near-surface temperature in complex terrain

Boumendil, Paul; Joulin, Pierre-Antoine; Rodier, Quentin; Masson, Valéry

doi:10.5194/wes-11-4255-2026

Articles | Volume 11, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-4255-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-4255-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 11, issue 11

Research article

|

13 Nov 2026

Research article |

| 13 Nov 2026

Multi-scale simulations of wind farm impacts on nighttime near-surface temperature in complex terrain

Paul Boumendil, Pierre-Antoine Joulin, Quentin Rodier, and Valéry Masson

Model code and software

Meso-NH (Version 5.7.1) Meso-NH team https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15095131

Meso-NH (Version 6.0.0) Meso-NH team https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19398091

Video supplement

Vertical cross-sections of wind speed at 80 m above ground level from a Meso-NH simulation between 7 and 8 April 2021, centered on the Ensemble Éolien Catalan wind farm, located west of Perpignan, France P. Boumendil et al. https://doi.org/10.5446/73018

Short summary

Wind turbines can modify atmospheric conditions over wind farms. This study uses multi-scale, coupled atmosphere–soil–vegetation–wind turbine simulations to investigate how a wind farm interacts with a spring frost event in a vineyard area with complex terrain. Such a numerical approach provides new insights into turbine–atmosphere interactions and shows that turbine operation induces vertical mixing that disrupts near-surface atmospheric layers, leading to local warming of up to 2 °C.