Articles | Volume 8, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1049-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1049-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
04 Jul 2023
Research article |
| 04 Jul 2023
| 04 Jul 2023
Investigating the physical mechanisms that modify wind plant blockage in stable boundary layers
Miguel Sanchez Gomez
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0311, United States
Julie K. Lundquist
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0311, United States
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
Jeffrey D. Mirocha
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, United States
Robert S. Arthur
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, United States
Related authors
Miguel Sanchez Gomez, Julie K. Lundquist, Petra M. Klein, and Tyler M. Bell
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3539–3549, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3539-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3539-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In July 2018, the International Society for Atmospheric Research using Remotely-piloted Aircraft (ISARRA) hosted a flight week to demonstrate unmanned aircraft systems' capabilities in sampling the atmospheric boundary layer. Three Doppler lidars were deployed during this week-long experiment. We use data from these lidars to estimate turbulence dissipation rate. We observe large temporal variability and significant differences in dissipation for lidars with different sampling techniques.
Miguel Sanchez Gomez, Julie K. Lundquist, Jeffrey D. Mirocha, Robert S. Arthur, and Domingo Muñoz-Esparza
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2021-57, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2021-57, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
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Winds decelerate upstream of a wind plant as turbines obstruct and extract energy from the flow. This effect is known as wind plant blockage. We assess how atmospheric stability modifies the upstream wind plant blockage. We find stronger stability amplifies this effect. We also explore different approaches to quantifying blockage from field-like observations. We find different methodologies may induce errors of the same order of magnitude as the blockage-induced velocity deficits.
Miguel Sanchez Gomez and Julie K. Lundquist
Wind Energ. Sci., 5, 125–139, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-125-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-125-2020, 2020
Short summary
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Wind turbine performance depends on various atmospheric conditions. We quantified the effect of the change in wind direction and speed with height (direction and speed wind shear) on turbine power at a wind farm in Iowa. Turbine performance was affected during large direction shear and small speed shear conditions and favored for the opposite scenarios. These effects make direction shear significant when analyzing the influence of different atmospheric variables on turbine operation.
Robert S. Arthur, Alex Rybchuk, Timothy W. Juliano, Gabriel Rios, Sonia Wharton, Julie K. Lundquist, and Jerome D. Fast
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-137, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-137, 2024
Preprint under review for WES
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This paper evaluates a new model configuration for wind energy forecasting in complex terrain. We compare model results to observations in the Altamont Pass (California, USA), where wind channeling through a mountain pass leads to increased energy production. We show evidence of improved wind speed and turbulence predictions compared to a more established modeling approach. Our work helps to ensure the robustness of the new model configuration for future wind energy applications.
Rachel Robey and Julie K. Lundquist
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1905–1922, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1905-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1905-2024, 2024
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Measurements of wind turbine wakes with scanning lidar instruments contain complex errors. We model lidars in a simulated environment to understand how and why the measured wake may differ from the true wake and validate the results with observational data. The lidar smooths out the wake, making it seem more spread out and the slowdown of the winds less pronounced. Our findings provide insights into best practices for accurately measuring wakes with lidar and interpreting observational data.
Adam S. Wise, Robert S. Arthur, Aliza Abraham, Sonia Wharton, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Rob Newsom, Brian Hirth, John Schroeder, Patrick Moriarty, and Fotini K. Chow
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-84, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-84, 2024
Preprint under review for WES
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Wind farms can be subject to rapidly changing weather events. In the United States Great Plains, some of these weather events can result in waves in the atmosphere that ultimately affect how much power a wind farm can produce. We modeled a specific event of waves observed in Oklahoma. We determined how to accurately model the event and analyzed how it affected a wind farm’s power production finding that the waves both decreased power and made it more variable.
Daphne Quint, Julie K. Lundquist, and David Rosencrans
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-48, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-48, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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Offshore wind farms will be built along the east coast of the United States. Low-level jets (LLJs) – layers of fast winds at low altitudes – also occur here. LLJs provide wind resources and also influence moisture and pollution transport, so it is important to understand how they might change. We develop and validate an automated tool to detect LLJs, and compare one year of simulations with and without wind farms. Here, we describe LLJ characteristics and how they change with wind farms.
Daphne Quint, Julie K. Lundquist, Nicola Bodini, and David Rosencrans
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-53, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-53, 2024
Preprint under review for WES
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Offshore wind farms along the US east coast can have limited effects on local weather. Studying this, we used a weather model to compare conditions with and without wind farms near Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We analyzed changes in wind, temperature, and turbulence. Results show reduced wind speeds near and downwind of wind farms, especially during stability and high winds. Turbulence increases near wind farms, affecting boundary-layer height and wake size.
Nicola Bodini, Mike Optis, Stephanie Redfern, David Rosencrans, Alex Rybchuk, Julie K. Lundquist, Vincent Pronk, Simon Castagneri, Avi Purkayastha, Caroline Draxl, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Ethan Young, Billy Roberts, Evan Rosenlieb, and Walter Musial
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1965–2006, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1965-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1965-2024, 2024
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This article presents the 2023 National Offshore Wind data set (NOW-23), an updated resource for offshore wind information in the US. It replaces the Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) Toolkit, offering improved accuracy through advanced weather prediction models. The data underwent regional tuning and validation and can be accessed at no cost.
David Rosencrans, Julie K. Lundquist, Mike Optis, Alex Rybchuk, Nicola Bodini, and Michael Rossol
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 555–583, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-555-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-555-2024, 2024
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The US offshore wind industry is developing rapidly. Using yearlong simulations of wind plants in the US mid-Atlantic, we assess the impacts of wind turbine wakes. While wakes are the strongest and longest during summertime stably stratified conditions, when New England grid demand peaks, they are predictable and thus manageable. Over a year, wakes reduce power output by over 35 %. Wakes in a wind plant contribute the most to that reduction, while wakes between wind plants play a secondary role.
David Rosencrans, Julie K. Lundquist, Mike Optis, and Nicola Bodini
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-2, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-2, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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The U.S. offshore wind industry is growing rapidly. Expansion into cold climates will subject turbines and personnel to hazardous freezing. We analyze the 20-year freezing risk for US East Coast wind areas based on numerical weather prediction simulations and further assess impacts from wind farm wakes over one winter season. Sea-spray icing at 10 m can occur up to 66 hours per month. However, turbine–atmosphere interactions reduce icing hours within wind plant areas.
Sue Ellen Haupt, Branko Kosović, Larry K. Berg, Colleen M. Kaul, Matthew Churchfield, Jeffrey Mirocha, Dries Allaerts, Thomas Brummet, Shannon Davis, Amy DeCastro, Susan Dettling, Caroline Draxl, David John Gagne, Patrick Hawbecker, Pankaj Jha, Timothy Juliano, William Lassman, Eliot Quon, Raj K. Rai, Michael Robinson, William Shaw, and Regis Thedin
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1251–1275, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1251-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1251-2023, 2023
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The Mesoscale to Microscale Coupling team, part of the U.S. Department of Energy Atmosphere to Electrons (A2e) initiative, has studied various important challenges related to coupling mesoscale models to microscale models. Lessons learned and discerned best practices are described in the context of the cases studied for the purpose of enabling further deployment of wind energy. It also points to code, assessment tools, and data for testing the methods.
Paul Veers, Katherine Dykes, Sukanta Basu, Alessandro Bianchini, Andrew Clifton, Peter Green, Hannele Holttinen, Lena Kitzing, Branko Kosovic, Julie K. Lundquist, Johan Meyers, Mark O'Malley, William J. Shaw, and Bethany Straw
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2491–2496, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2491-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2491-2022, 2022
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Wind energy will play a central role in the transition of our energy system to a carbon-free future. However, many underlying scientific issues remain to be resolved before wind can be deployed in the locations and applications needed for such large-scale ambitions. The Grand Challenges are the gaps in the science left behind during the rapid growth of wind energy. This article explains the breadth of the unfinished business and introduces 10 articles that detail the research needs.
William J. Shaw, Larry K. Berg, Mithu Debnath, Georgios Deskos, Caroline Draxl, Virendra P. Ghate, Charlotte B. Hasager, Rao Kotamarthi, Jeffrey D. Mirocha, Paytsar Muradyan, William J. Pringle, David D. Turner, and James M. Wilczak
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2307–2334, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2307-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2307-2022, 2022
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This paper provides a review of prominent scientific challenges to characterizing the offshore wind resource using as examples phenomena that occur in the rapidly developing wind energy areas off the United States. The paper also describes the current state of modeling and observations in the marine atmospheric boundary layer and provides specific recommendations for filling key current knowledge gaps.
Alex Rybchuk, Timothy W. Juliano, Julie K. Lundquist, David Rosencrans, Nicola Bodini, and Mike Optis
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2085–2098, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2085-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2085-2022, 2022
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Numerical weather prediction models are used to predict how wind turbines will interact with the atmosphere. Here, we characterize the uncertainty associated with the choice of turbulence parameterization on modeled wakes. We find that simulated wind speed deficits in turbine wakes can be significantly sensitive to the choice of turbulence parameterization. As such, predictions of future generated power are also sensitive to turbulence parameterization choice.
Rachel Robey and Julie K. Lundquist
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4585–4622, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4585-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4585-2022, 2022
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Our work investigates the behavior of errors in remote-sensing wind lidar measurements due to turbulence. Using a virtual instrument, we measured winds in simulated atmospheric flows and decomposed the resulting error. Dominant error mechanisms, particularly vertical velocity variations and interactions with shear, were identified in ensemble data over three test cases. By analyzing the underlying mechanisms, the response of the error behavior to further varying flow conditions may be projected.
Vincent Pronk, Nicola Bodini, Mike Optis, Julie K. Lundquist, Patrick Moriarty, Caroline Draxl, Avi Purkayastha, and Ethan Young
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 487–504, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-487-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-487-2022, 2022
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In this paper, we have assessed to which extent mesoscale numerical weather prediction models are more accurate than state-of-the-art reanalysis products in characterizing the wind resource at heights of interest for wind energy. The conclusions of our work will be of primary importance to the wind industry for recommending the best data sources for wind resource modeling.
Adam S. Wise, James M. T. Neher, Robert S. Arthur, Jeffrey D. Mirocha, Julie K. Lundquist, and Fotini K. Chow
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 367–386, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-367-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-367-2022, 2022
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Wind turbine wake behavior in hilly terrain depends on various atmospheric conditions. We modeled a wind turbine located on top of a ridge in Portugal during typical nighttime and daytime atmospheric conditions and validated these model results with observational data. During nighttime conditions, the wake deflected downwards following the terrain. During daytime conditions, the wake deflected upwards. These results can provide insight into wind turbine siting and operation in hilly regions.
Hannah Livingston, Nicola Bodini, and Julie K. Lundquist
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2021-68, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2021-68, 2021
Preprint withdrawn
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In this paper, we assess whether hub-height turbulence can easily be quantified from either other hub-height variables or ground-level measurements in complex terrain. We find a large variability across the three considered locations when trying to model hub-height turbulence intensity and turbulence kinetic energy. Our results highlight the nonlinear and complex nature of atmospheric turbulence, so that more powerful techniques should instead be recommended to model hub-height turbulence.
Miguel Sanchez Gomez, Julie K. Lundquist, Petra M. Klein, and Tyler M. Bell
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3539–3549, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3539-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3539-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In July 2018, the International Society for Atmospheric Research using Remotely-piloted Aircraft (ISARRA) hosted a flight week to demonstrate unmanned aircraft systems' capabilities in sampling the atmospheric boundary layer. Three Doppler lidars were deployed during this week-long experiment. We use data from these lidars to estimate turbulence dissipation rate. We observe large temporal variability and significant differences in dissipation for lidars with different sampling techniques.
Miguel Sanchez Gomez, Julie K. Lundquist, Jeffrey D. Mirocha, Robert S. Arthur, and Domingo Muñoz-Esparza
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2021-57, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2021-57, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
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Winds decelerate upstream of a wind plant as turbines obstruct and extract energy from the flow. This effect is known as wind plant blockage. We assess how atmospheric stability modifies the upstream wind plant blockage. We find stronger stability amplifies this effect. We also explore different approaches to quantifying blockage from field-like observations. We find different methodologies may induce errors of the same order of magnitude as the blockage-induced velocity deficits.
Alfredo Peña, Branko Kosović, and Jeffrey D. Mirocha
Wind Energ. Sci., 6, 645–661, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-645-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-645-2021, 2021
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We investigate the ability of a community-open weather model to simulate the turbulent atmosphere by comparison with measurements from a 250 m mast at a flat site in Denmark. We found that within three main atmospheric stability regimes, idealized simulations reproduce closely the characteristics of the observations with regards to the mean wind, direction, turbulent fluxes, and turbulence spectra. Our work provides foundation for the use of the weather model in multiscale real-time simulations.
Alex Rybchuk, Mike Optis, Julie K. Lundquist, Michael Rossol, and Walt Musial
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-50, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-50, 2021
Preprint withdrawn
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We characterize the wind resource off the coast of California by conducting simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model between 2000 and 2019. We compare newly simulated winds to those from the WIND Toolkit. The newly simulated winds are substantially stronger, particularly in the late summer. We also conduct a refined analysis at three areas that are being considered for commercial development, finding that stronger winds translates to substantially more power here.
Tyler M. Bell, Petra M. Klein, Julie K. Lundquist, and Sean Waugh
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 1041–1051, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1041-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1041-2021, 2021
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In July 2018, numerous weather sensing remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPASs) were flown in a flight week called Lower Atmospheric Process Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE). As part of LAPSE-RATE, ground-based remote and in situ systems were also deployed to supplement and enhance observations from the RPASs. These instruments include multiple Doppler lidars, thermodynamic profilers, and radiosondes. This paper describes data from these systems.
Caroline Draxl, Rochelle P. Worsnop, Geng Xia, Yelena Pichugina, Duli Chand, Julie K. Lundquist, Justin Sharp, Garrett Wedam, James M. Wilczak, and Larry K. Berg
Wind Energ. Sci., 6, 45–60, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-45-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-45-2021, 2021
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Mountain waves can create oscillations in low-level wind speeds and subsequently in the power output of wind plants. We document such oscillations by analyzing sodar and lidar observations, nacelle wind speeds, power observations, and Weather Research and Forecasting model simulations. This research describes how mountain waves form in the Columbia River basin and affect wind energy production and their impact on operational forecasting, wind plant layout, and integration of power into the grid.
Jessica M. Tomaszewski and Julie K. Lundquist
Wind Energ. Sci., 6, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-1-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-1-2021, 2021
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We use a mesoscale numerical weather prediction model to conduct a case study of a thunderstorm outflow passing over and interacting with a wind farm. These simulations and observations from a nearby radar and surface station confirm that interactions with the wind farm cause the outflow to reduce its speed by over 20 km h−1, with brief but significant impacts on the local meteorology, including temperature, moisture, and winds. Precipitation accumulation across the region was unaffected.
Gijs de Boer, Adam Houston, Jamey Jacob, Phillip B. Chilson, Suzanne W. Smith, Brian Argrow, Dale Lawrence, Jack Elston, David Brus, Osku Kemppinen, Petra Klein, Julie K. Lundquist, Sean Waugh, Sean C. C. Bailey, Amy Frazier, Michael P. Sama, Christopher Crick, David Schmale III, James Pinto, Elizabeth A. Pillar-Little, Victoria Natalie, and Anders Jensen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 3357–3366, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3357-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3357-2020, 2020
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This paper provides an overview of the Lower Atmospheric Profiling Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE) field campaign, held from 14 to 20 July 2018. This field campaign spanned a 1-week deployment to Colorado's San Luis Valley, involving over 100 students, scientists, engineers, pilots, and outreach coordinators. This overview paper provides insight into the campaign for a special issue focused on the datasets collected during LAPSE-RATE.
Antonia Englberger, Julie K. Lundquist, and Andreas Dörnbrack
Wind Energ. Sci., 5, 1623–1644, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-1623-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-1623-2020, 2020
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Wind turbines rotate clockwise. The rotational direction of the rotor interacts with the nighttime veering wind, resulting in a rotational-direction impact on the wake. In the case of counterclockwise-rotating blades the streamwise velocity in the wake is larger in the Northern Hemisphere whereas it is smaller in the Southern Hemisphere.
Antonia Englberger, Andreas Dörnbrack, and Julie K. Lundquist
Wind Energ. Sci., 5, 1359–1374, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-1359-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-1359-2020, 2020
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At night, the wind direction often changes with height, and this veer affects structures near the surface like wind turbines. Wind turbines usually rotate clockwise, but this rotational direction interacts with veer to impact the flow field behind a wind turbine. If another turbine is located downwind, the direction of the upwind turbine's rotation will affect the downwind turbine.
Nicola Bodini, Julie K. Lundquist, and Mike Optis
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 4271–4285, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4271-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4271-2020, 2020
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While turbulence dissipation rate (ε) is an essential parameter for the prediction of wind speed, its current representation in weather prediction models is inaccurate, especially in complex terrain. In this study, we leverage the potential of machine-learning techniques to provide a more accurate representation of turbulence dissipation rate. Our results show a 30 % reduction in the average error compared to the current model representation of ε and a total elimination of its average bias.
Patrick Murphy, Julie K. Lundquist, and Paul Fleming
Wind Energ. Sci., 5, 1169–1190, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-1169-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-1169-2020, 2020
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We present and evaluate an improved method for predicting wind turbine power production based on measurements of the wind speed and direction profile across the rotor disk for a wind turbine in complex terrain. By comparing predictions to actual power production from a utility-scale wind turbine, we show this method is more accurate than methods based on hub-height wind speed or surface-based atmospheric characterization.
Paul Fleming, Jennifer King, Eric Simley, Jason Roadman, Andrew Scholbrock, Patrick Murphy, Julie K. Lundquist, Patrick Moriarty, Katherine Fleming, Jeroen van Dam, Christopher Bay, Rafael Mudafort, David Jager, Jason Skopek, Michael Scott, Brady Ryan, Charles Guernsey, and Dan Brake
Wind Energ. Sci., 5, 945–958, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-945-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-945-2020, 2020
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This paper presents the results of a field campaign investigating the performance of wake steering applied at a section of a commercial wind farm. It is the second phase of the study for which the first phase was reported in a companion paper (https://wes.copernicus.org/articles/4/273/2019/). The authors implemented wake steering on two turbine pairs and compared results with the latest FLORIS model of wake steering, showing good agreement in overall energy increase.
Jessica M. Tomaszewski and Julie K. Lundquist
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 2645–2662, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2645-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2645-2020, 2020
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Wind farms can briefly impact the nearby environment by reducing wind speeds and mixing warmer air down to the surface. The wind farm parameterization (WFP) in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is a tool that numerically simulates wind farms and these meteorological impacts. We highlight the importance of choice in model settings and find that sufficiently fine vertical and horizontal grids with turbine turbulence are needed to accurately simulate wind farm meteorological impacts.
Philipp Gasch, Andreas Wieser, Julie K. Lundquist, and Norbert Kalthoff
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1609–1631, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1609-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1609-2020, 2020
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We present an airborne Doppler lidar simulator (ADLS) based on high-resolution atmospheric wind fields (LES). The ADLS is used to evaluate the retrieval accuracy of airborne wind profiling under turbulent, inhomogeneous wind field conditions inside the boundary layer. With the ADLS, the error due to the violation of the wind field homogeneity assumption used for retrieval can be revealed. For the conditions considered, flow inhomogeneities exert a dominant influence on wind profiling error.
Simon K. Siedersleben, Andreas Platis, Julie K. Lundquist, Bughsin Djath, Astrid Lampert, Konrad Bärfuss, Beatriz Cañadillas, Johannes Schulz-Stellenfleth, Jens Bange, Tom Neumann, and Stefan Emeis
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 249–268, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-249-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-249-2020, 2020
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Wind farms affect local weather and microclimates. These effects can be simulated in weather models, usually by removing momentum at the location of the wind farm. Some debate exists whether additional turbulence should be added to capture the enhanced mixing of wind farms. By comparing simulations to measurements from airborne campaigns near offshore wind farms, we show that additional turbulence is necessary. Without added turbulence, the mixing is underestimated during stable conditions.
Miguel Sanchez Gomez and Julie K. Lundquist
Wind Energ. Sci., 5, 125–139, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-125-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-125-2020, 2020
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Wind turbine performance depends on various atmospheric conditions. We quantified the effect of the change in wind direction and speed with height (direction and speed wind shear) on turbine power at a wind farm in Iowa. Turbine performance was affected during large direction shear and small speed shear conditions and favored for the opposite scenarios. These effects make direction shear significant when analyzing the influence of different atmospheric variables on turbine operation.
Norman Wildmann, Nicola Bodini, Julie K. Lundquist, Ludovic Bariteau, and Johannes Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6401–6423, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6401-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6401-2019, 2019
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Turbulence is the variation of wind velocity on short timescales. In this study we introduce a new method to measure turbulence in a two-dimensionial plane with lidar instruments. The method allows for the detection and quantification of subareas of distinct turbulence conditions in the observed plane. We compare the results to point and profile measurements with more established instruments. It is shown that turbulence below low-level jets and in wind turbine wakes can be investigated this way.
Laura Bianco, Irina V. Djalalova, James M. Wilczak, Joseph B. Olson, Jaymes S. Kenyon, Aditya Choukulkar, Larry K. Berg, Harindra J. S. Fernando, Eric P. Grimit, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Julie K. Lundquist, Paytsar Muradyan, Mikhail Pekour, Yelena Pichugina, Mark T. Stoelinga, and David D. Turner
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4803–4821, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4803-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4803-2019, 2019
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During the second Wind Forecast Improvement Project, improvements to the parameterizations were applied to the High Resolution Rapid Refresh model and its nested version. The impacts of the new parameterizations on the forecast of 80 m wind speeds and power are assessed, using sodars and profiling lidars observations for comparison. Improvements are evaluated as a function of the model’s initialization time, forecast horizon, time of the day, season, site elevation, and meteorological phenomena.
Paul Fleming, Jennifer King, Katherine Dykes, Eric Simley, Jason Roadman, Andrew Scholbrock, Patrick Murphy, Julie K. Lundquist, Patrick Moriarty, Katherine Fleming, Jeroen van Dam, Christopher Bay, Rafael Mudafort, Hector Lopez, Jason Skopek, Michael Scott, Brady Ryan, Charles Guernsey, and Dan Brake
Wind Energ. Sci., 4, 273–285, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-4-273-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-4-273-2019, 2019
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Wake steering is a form of wind farm control in which turbines use yaw offsets to affect wakes in order to yield an increase in total energy production. In this first phase of a study of wake steering at a commercial wind farm, two turbines implement a schedule of offsets. For two closely spaced turbines, an approximate 14 % increase in energy was measured on the downstream turbine over a 10° sector, with a 4 % increase in energy production of the combined turbine pair.
Nicola Bodini, Julie K. Lundquist, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Mikhail Pekour, Larry K. Berg, and Aditya Choukulkar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4367–4382, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4367-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4367-2019, 2019
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To improve the parameterization of the turbulence dissipation rate (ε) in numerical weather prediction models, we have assessed its temporal and spatial variability at various scales in the Columbia River Gorge during the WFIP2 field experiment. The turbulence dissipation rate shows large spatial variability, even at the microscale, with larger values in sites located downwind of complex orographic structures or in wind farm wakes. Distinct diurnal and seasonal cycles in ε have also been found.
Robert Menke, Nikola Vasiljević, Jakob Mann, and Julie K. Lundquist
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2713–2723, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2713-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2713-2019, 2019
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This research utilizes several months of lidar measurements from the Perdigão 2017 campaign to investigate flow recirculation zones that occur at the two parallel ridges at the measurement site in Portugal. We found that recirculation occurs in over 50 % of the time when the wind direction is perpendicular to the direction of the ridges. Moreover, we show three-dimensional changes of the zones along the ridges and the implications of recirculation on wind turbines that are operating downstream.
Joseph C. Y. Lee, M. Jason Fields, and Julie K. Lundquist
Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 845–868, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-845-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-845-2018, 2018
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To find the ideal way to quantify long-term wind-speed variability, we compare 27 metrics using 37 years of wind and energy data. We conclude that the robust coefficient of variation can effectively assess and correlate wind-speed and energy-production variabilities. We derive adequate results via monthly mean data, whereas uncertainty arises in interannual variability calculations. We find that reliable estimates of wind-speed variability require 10 ± 3 years of monthly mean wind data.
Jessica M. Tomaszewski, Julie K. Lundquist, Matthew J. Churchfield, and Patrick J. Moriarty
Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 833–843, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-833-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-833-2018, 2018
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Wind energy development has increased rapidly in rural locations of the United States, areas that also serve general aviation airports. The spinning rotor of a wind turbine creates an area of increased turbulence, and we question if this turbulent air could pose rolling hazards for light aircraft flying behind turbines. We analyze high-resolution simulations of wind flowing past a turbine to quantify the rolling risk and find that wind turbines pose no significant roll hazards to light aircraft.
Nicola Bodini, Julie K. Lundquist, and Rob K. Newsom
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 4291–4308, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4291-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4291-2018, 2018
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Turbulence within the atmospheric boundary layer is critically important to transfer heat, momentum, and moisture. Currently, improved turbulence parametrizations are crucially needed to refine the accuracy of model results at fine horizontal scales. In this study, we calculate turbulence dissipation rate from sonic anemometers and discuss a novel approach to derive turbulence dissipation from profiling lidar measurements.
Rochelle P. Worsnop, Michael Scheuerer, Thomas M. Hamill, and Julie K. Lundquist
Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 371–393, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-371-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-371-2018, 2018
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This paper uses four statistical methods to generate probabilistic wind speed and power ramp forecasts from the High Resolution Rapid Refresh model. The results show that these methods can provide necessary uncertainty information of power ramp forecasts. These probabilistic forecasts can aid in decisions regarding power production and grid integration of wind power.
Joseph C. Y. Lee and Julie K. Lundquist
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 4229–4244, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-4229-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-4229-2017, 2017
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We evaluate the wind farm parameterization (WFP) in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, a powerful tool to simulate wind farms and their meteorological impacts numerically. In our case study, the WFP simulations with fine vertical grid resolution are skilful in matching the observed winds and the actual power productions. Moreover, the WFP tends to underestimate power in windy conditions. We also illustrate that the modeled wind speed is a critical determinant to improve the WFP.
Nicola Bodini, Dino Zardi, and Julie K. Lundquist
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2881–2896, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2881-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2881-2017, 2017
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Wind turbine wakes have considerable impacts on downwind turbines in wind farms, given their slower wind speeds and increased turbulence. Based on lidar measurements, we apply a quantitative algorithm to assess wake parameters for wakes from a row of four turbines in CWEX-13 campaign. We describe how wake characteristics evolve, and for the first time we quantify the relation between wind veer and a stretching of the wake structures, and we highlight different results for inner and outer wakes.
Clara M. St. Martin, Julie K. Lundquist, Andrew Clifton, Gregory S. Poulos, and Scott J. Schreck
Wind Energ. Sci., 2, 295–306, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2-295-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2-295-2017, 2017
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We use upwind and nacelle-based measurements from a wind turbine and investigate the influence of atmospheric stability and turbulence regimes on nacelle transfer functions (NTFs) used to correct nacelle-mounted anemometer measurements. This work shows that correcting nacelle winds using NTFs results in similar energy production estimates to those obtained using upwind tower-based wind speeds. Further, stability and turbulence metrics have been found to have an effect on NTFs below rated speed.
Laura Bianco, Katja Friedrich, James M. Wilczak, Duane Hazen, Daniel Wolfe, Ruben Delgado, Steven P. Oncley, and Julie K. Lundquist
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1707–1721, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1707-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1707-2017, 2017
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XPIA is a study held in 2015 at NOAA's Boulder Atmospheric Observatory facility, aimed at assessing remote-sensing capabilities for wind energy applications. We use well-defined reference systems to validate temperature retrieved by two microwave radiometers (MWRs) and virtual temperature measured by wind profiling radars with radio acoustic sounding systems (RASSs). Water vapor density and relative humidity by the MWRs were also compared with similar measurements from the reference systems.
Rob K. Newsom, W. Alan Brewer, James M. Wilczak, Daniel E. Wolfe, Steven P. Oncley, and Julie K. Lundquist
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1229–1240, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1229-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1229-2017, 2017
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Doppler lidars are remote sensing instruments that use infrared light to measure wind velocity in the lowest 2 to 3 km of the atmosphere. Quantifying the uncertainty in these measurements is crucial for applications ranging from wind resource assessment to model data assimilation. In this study, we evaluate three methods for estimating the random uncertainty by comparing the lidar wind measurements with nearly collocated in situ wind measurements at multiple levels on a tall tower.
Mithu Debnath, Giacomo Valerio Iungo, W. Alan Brewer, Aditya Choukulkar, Ruben Delgado, Scott Gunter, Julie K. Lundquist, John L. Schroeder, James M. Wilczak, and Daniel Wolfe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1215–1227, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1215-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1215-2017, 2017
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The XPIA experiment was conducted in 2015 at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory to estimate capabilities of various remote-sensing techniques for the characterization of complex atmospheric flows. Among different tests, XPIA provided the unique opportunity to perform simultaneous virtual towers with Ka-band radars and scanning Doppler wind lidars. Wind speed and wind direction were assessed against lidar profilers and sonic anemometer data, highlighting a good accuracy of the data retrieved.
Mithu Debnath, G. Valerio Iungo, Ryan Ashton, W. Alan Brewer, Aditya Choukulkar, Ruben Delgado, Julie K. Lundquist, William J. Shaw, James M. Wilczak, and Daniel Wolfe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 431–444, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-431-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-431-2017, 2017
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Triple RHI scans were performed with three simultaneous scanning Doppler wind lidars and assessed with lidar profiler and sonic anemometer data. This test is part of the XPIA experiment. The scan strategy consists in two lidars performing co-planar RHI scans, while a third lidar measures the transversal velocity component. The results show that horizontal velocity and wind direction are measured with good accuracy, while the vertical velocity is typically measured with a significant error.
Katherine McCaffrey, Paul T. Quelet, Aditya Choukulkar, James M. Wilczak, Daniel E. Wolfe, Steven P. Oncley, W. Alan Brewer, Mithu Debnath, Ryan Ashton, G. Valerio Iungo, and Julie K. Lundquist
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 393–407, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-393-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-393-2017, 2017
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During the eXperimental Planetary boundary layer Instrumentation Assessment (XPIA) field campaign, the wake and flow distortion from a 300-meter meteorological tower was identified using pairs of sonic anemometers mounted on opposite sides of the tower, as well as profiling and scanning lidars. Wind speed deficits up to 50% and TKE increases of 2 orders of magnitude were observed at wind directions in the wake, along with wind direction differences (flow deflection) outside of the wake.
Aditya Choukulkar, W. Alan Brewer, Scott P. Sandberg, Ann Weickmann, Timothy A. Bonin, R. Michael Hardesty, Julie K. Lundquist, Ruben Delgado, G. Valerio Iungo, Ryan Ashton, Mithu Debnath, Laura Bianco, James M. Wilczak, Steven Oncley, and Daniel Wolfe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 247–264, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-247-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-247-2017, 2017
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This paper discusses trade-offs among various wind measurement strategies using scanning Doppler lidars. It is found that the trade-off exists between being able to make highly precise point measurements versus covering large spatial extents. The highest measurement precision is achieved when multiple lidar systems make wind measurements at one point in space, while highest spatial coverage is achieved through using single lidar scanning measurements and using complex retrieval techniques.
Clara M. St. Martin, Julie K. Lundquist, Andrew Clifton, Gregory S. Poulos, and Scott J. Schreck
Wind Energ. Sci., 1, 221–236, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-221-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-221-2016, 2016
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We use turbine nacelle-based measurements and measurements from an upwind tower to calculate wind turbine power curves and predict the production of energy. We explore how different atmospheric parameters impact these power curves and energy production estimates. Results show statistically significant differences between power curves and production estimates calculated with turbulence and stability filters, and we suggest implementing an additional step in analyzing power performance data.
Nicola Bodini, Julie K. Lundquist, Dino Zardi, and Mark Handschy
Wind Energ. Sci., 1, 115–128, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-115-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-115-2016, 2016
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Year-to-year variability of wind speeds limits the certainty of wind-plant preconstruction energy estimates ("resource assessments"). Using 62-year records from 60 stations across Canada we show that resource highs and lows persist for decades, which makes estimates 2–3 times less certain than if annual levels were uncorrelated. Comparing chronological data records with randomly permuted versions of the same data reveals this in an unambiguous and easy-to-understand way.
J. K. Lundquist, M. J. Churchfield, S. Lee, and A. Clifton
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 907–920, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-907-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-907-2015, 2015
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Wind-profiling lidars are now regularly used in boundary-layer meteorology and in applications like wind energy, but their use often relies on assuming homogeneity in the wind. Using numerical simulations of stable flow past a wind turbine, we quantify the error expected because of the inhomogeneity of the flow. Large errors (30%) in winds are found near the wind turbine, but by three rotor diameters downwind, errors in the horizontal components have decreased to 15% of the inflow.
Related subject area
Thematic area: Wind and the atmosphere | Topic: Atmospheric physics
Estimating the technical wind energy potential of Kansas that incorporates the effect of regional wind resource depletion by wind turbines
Mesoscale weather systems and associated potential wind power variations in a midlatitude sea strait (Kattegat)
A large-eddy simulation (LES) model for wind-farm-induced atmospheric gravity wave effects inside conventionally neutral boundary layers
Linking weather patterns to observed and modelled turbine hub-height winds offshore U.S. West Coast
Simulating low-frequency wind fluctuations
Tropical cyclone low-level wind speed, shear, and veer: sensitivity to the boundary layer parametrization in the Weather Research and Forecasting model
The multi-scale coupled model: a new framework capturing wind farm–atmosphere interaction and global blockage effects
Seasonal variability of wake impacts on US mid-Atlantic offshore wind plant power production
Improving Wind and Power Predictions via Four-Dimensional Data Assimilation in the WRF Model: Case Study of Storms in February 2022 at Belgian Offshore Wind Farms
Bayesian method for estimating Weibull parameters for wind resource assessment in a tropical region: a comparison between two-parameter and three-parameter Weibull distributions
Lessons learned in coupling atmospheric models across scales for onshore and offshore wind energy
Offshore wind energy forecasting sensitivity to sea surface temperature input in the Mid-Atlantic
Lifetime prediction of turbine blades using global precipitation products from satellites
Evaluation of low-level jets in the southern Baltic Sea: a comparison between ship-based lidar observational data and numerical models
Predicting power ramps from joint distributions of future wind speeds
Scientific challenges to characterizing the wind resource in the marine atmospheric boundary layer
Research challenges and needs for the deployment of wind energy in hilly and mountainous regions
Observer-based power forecast of individual and aggregated offshore wind turbines
Sensitivity analysis of mesoscale simulations to physics parameterizations over the Belgian North Sea using Weather Research and Forecasting – Advanced Research WRF (WRF-ARW)
Jonathan Minz, Axel Kleidon, and Nsilulu T. Mbungu
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 2147–2169, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2147-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2147-2024, 2024
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Estimates of power output from regional wind turbine deployments in energy scenarios assume that the impact of the atmospheric feedback on them is minimal. But numerical models show that the impact is large at the proposed scales of future deployment. We show that this impact can be captured by accounting only for the kinetic energy removed by turbines from the atmosphere. This can be easily applied to energy scenarios and leads to more physically representative estimates.
Jérôme Neirynck, Jonas Van de Walle, Ruben Borgers, Sebastiaan Jamaer, Johan Meyers, Ad Stoffelen, and Nicole P. M. van Lipzig
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1695–1711, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1695-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1695-2024, 2024
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In our study, we assess how mesoscale weather systems influence wind speed variations and their impact on offshore wind energy production fluctuations. We have observed, for instance, that weather systems originating over land lead to sea wind speed variations. Additionally, we noted that power fluctuations are typically more significant in summer, despite potentially larger winter wind speed variations. These findings are valuable for grid management and optimizing renewable energy deployment.
Sebastiano Stipa, Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Dries Allaerts, and Joshua Brinkerhoff
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1647–1668, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1647-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1647-2024, 2024
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We introduce a novel way to model the impact of atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) on wind farms using high-fidelity simulations while significantly reducing computational costs. The proposed approach is validated across different atmospheric stability conditions, and implications of neglecting AGWs when predicting wind farm power are assessed. This work advances our understanding of the interaction of wind farms with the free atmosphere, ultimately facilitating cost-effective research.
Ye Liu, Timothy W. Juliano, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Brian J. Gaudet, and Jungmin Lee
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-76, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-76, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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Our study reveals how different weather patterns influence wind conditions off the U.S. West Coast. We identified key weather patterns affecting wind speeds at potential wind farm sites using advanced machine learning. This research helps improve weather prediction models, making wind energy production more reliable and efficient.
Abdul Haseeb Syed and Jakob Mann
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1381–1391, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1381-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1381-2024, 2024
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Wind flow consists of swirling patterns of air called eddies, some as big as many kilometers across, while others are as small as just a few meters. This paper introduces a method to simulate these large swirling patterns on a flat grid. Using these simulations we can better figure out how these large eddies affect big wind turbines in terms of loads and forces.
Sara Müller, Xiaoli Guo Larsén, and David Robert Verelst
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1153–1171, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1153-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1153-2024, 2024
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Tropical cyclone winds are challenging for wind turbines. We analyze a tropical cyclone before landfall in a mesoscale model. The simulated wind speeds and storm structure are sensitive to the boundary parametrization. However, independent of the boundary layer parametrization, the median change in wind speed and wind direction with height is small relative to wind turbine design standards. Strong spatial organization of wind shear and veer along the rainbands may increase wind turbine loads.
Sebastiano Stipa, Arjun Ajay, Dries Allaerts, and Joshua Brinkerhoff
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1123–1152, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1123-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1123-2024, 2024
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This paper introduces the multi-scale coupled (MSC) model, an engineering framework aimed at modeling turbine–wake and wind farm–gravity wave interactions, as well as local and global blockage effects. Comparisons against large eddy simulations show that the MSC model offers a valid contribution towards advancing our understanding of the coupled wind farm–atmosphere interaction, helping refining power estimation methodologies for existing and future wind farm sites.
David Rosencrans, Julie K. Lundquist, Mike Optis, Alex Rybchuk, Nicola Bodini, and Michael Rossol
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 555–583, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-555-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-555-2024, 2024
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The US offshore wind industry is developing rapidly. Using yearlong simulations of wind plants in the US mid-Atlantic, we assess the impacts of wind turbine wakes. While wakes are the strongest and longest during summertime stably stratified conditions, when New England grid demand peaks, they are predictable and thus manageable. Over a year, wakes reduce power output by over 35 %. Wakes in a wind plant contribute the most to that reduction, while wakes between wind plants play a secondary role.
Tsvetelina Ivanova, Sara Porchetta, Sophia Buckingham, Jeroen van Beeck, and Wim Munters
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2023-177, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2023-177, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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This study explores how wind and power predictions can be improved by introducing local forcing of measurement data in a numerical weather model, while taking into account the presence of neighboring wind farms. Practical implications for the wind energy industry include insights for informed offshore wind farm planning and decision-making strategies using open-source models, even under adverse weather conditions.
Mohammad Golam Mostafa Khan and Mohammed Rafiuddin Ahmed
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1277–1298, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1277-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1277-2023, 2023
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A robust technique for wind resource assessment with a Bayesian approach for estimating Weibull parameters is proposed. Research conducted using seven sites' data in the tropical region from 1° N to 21° S revealed that the three-parameter (3-p) Weibull distribution with a non-zero shift parameter is a better fit for wind data that have a higher percentage of low wind speeds. Wind data with higher wind speeds are a special case of the 3-p distribution. This approach gives accurate results.
Sue Ellen Haupt, Branko Kosović, Larry K. Berg, Colleen M. Kaul, Matthew Churchfield, Jeffrey Mirocha, Dries Allaerts, Thomas Brummet, Shannon Davis, Amy DeCastro, Susan Dettling, Caroline Draxl, David John Gagne, Patrick Hawbecker, Pankaj Jha, Timothy Juliano, William Lassman, Eliot Quon, Raj K. Rai, Michael Robinson, William Shaw, and Regis Thedin
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1251–1275, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1251-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1251-2023, 2023
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The Mesoscale to Microscale Coupling team, part of the U.S. Department of Energy Atmosphere to Electrons (A2e) initiative, has studied various important challenges related to coupling mesoscale models to microscale models. Lessons learned and discerned best practices are described in the context of the cases studied for the purpose of enabling further deployment of wind energy. It also points to code, assessment tools, and data for testing the methods.
Stephanie Redfern, Mike Optis, Geng Xia, and Caroline Draxl
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1–23, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1-2023, 2023
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As wind farm developments expand offshore, accurate forecasting of winds above coastal waters is rising in importance. Weather models rely on various inputs to generate their forecasts, one of which is sea surface temperature (SST). In this study, we evaluate how the SST data set used in the Weather Research and Forecasting model may influence wind characterization and find meaningful differences between model output when different SST products are used.
Merete Badger, Haichen Zuo, Ásta Hannesdóttir, Abdalmenem Owda, and Charlotte Hasager
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2497–2512, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2497-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2497-2022, 2022
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When wind turbine blades are exposed to strong winds and heavy rainfall, they may be damaged and their efficiency reduced. The problem is most pronounced offshore where turbines are tall and the climate is harsh. Satellites provide global half-hourly rain observations. We use these rain data as input to a model for blade lifetime prediction and find that the satellite-based predictions agree well with predictions based on observations from weather stations on the ground.
Hugo Rubio, Martin Kühn, and Julia Gottschall
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2433–2455, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2433-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2433-2022, 2022
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A proper development of offshore wind farms requires the accurate description of atmospheric phenomena like low-level jets. In this study, we evaluate the capabilities and limitations of numerical models to characterize the main jets' properties in the southern Baltic Sea. For this, a comparison against ship-mounted lidar measurements from the NEWA Ferry Lidar Experiment has been implemented, allowing the investigation of the model's capabilities under different temporal and spatial constraints.
Thomas Muschinski, Moritz N. Lang, Georg J. Mayr, Jakob W. Messner, Achim Zeileis, and Thorsten Simon
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2393–2405, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2393-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2393-2022, 2022
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The power generated by offshore wind farms can vary greatly within a couple of hours, and failing to anticipate these ramp events can lead to costly imbalances in the electrical grid. A novel multivariate Gaussian regression model helps us to forecast not just the means and variances of the next day's hourly wind speeds, but also their corresponding correlations. This information is used to generate more realistic scenarios of power production and accurate estimates for ramp probabilities.
William J. Shaw, Larry K. Berg, Mithu Debnath, Georgios Deskos, Caroline Draxl, Virendra P. Ghate, Charlotte B. Hasager, Rao Kotamarthi, Jeffrey D. Mirocha, Paytsar Muradyan, William J. Pringle, David D. Turner, and James M. Wilczak
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2307–2334, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2307-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2307-2022, 2022
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This paper provides a review of prominent scientific challenges to characterizing the offshore wind resource using as examples phenomena that occur in the rapidly developing wind energy areas off the United States. The paper also describes the current state of modeling and observations in the marine atmospheric boundary layer and provides specific recommendations for filling key current knowledge gaps.
Andrew Clifton, Sarah Barber, Alexander Stökl, Helmut Frank, and Timo Karlsson
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2231–2254, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2231-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2231-2022, 2022
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The transition to low-carbon sources of energy means that wind turbines will need to be built in hilly or mountainous regions or in places affected by icing. These locations are called
complexand are hard to develop. This paper sets out the research and development (R&D) needed to make it easier and cheaper to harness wind energy there. This includes collaborative R&D facilities, improved wind and weather models, frameworks for sharing data, and a clear definition of site complexity.
Frauke Theuer, Andreas Rott, Jörge Schneemann, Lueder von Bremen, and Martin Kühn
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2099–2116, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2099-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2099-2022, 2022
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Remote-sensing-based approaches have shown potential for minute-scale forecasting and need to be further developed towards an operational use. In this work we extend a lidar-based forecast to an observer-based probabilistic power forecast by combining it with a SCADA-based method. We further aggregate individual turbine power using a copula approach. We found that the observer-based forecast benefits from combining lidar and SCADA data and can outperform persistence for unstable stratification.
Adithya Vemuri, Sophia Buckingham, Wim Munters, Jan Helsen, and Jeroen van Beeck
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1869–1888, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1869-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1869-2022, 2022
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The sensitivity of the WRF mesoscale modeling framework in accurately representing and predicting wind-farm-level environmental variables for three extreme weather events over the Belgian North Sea is investigated in this study. The overall results indicate highly sensitive simulation results to the type and combination of physics parameterizations and the type of the weather phenomena, with indications that scale-aware physics parameterizations better reproduce wind-related variables.
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Short summary
The wind slows down as it approaches a wind plant; this phenomenon is called blockage. As a result, the turbines in the wind plant produce less power than initially anticipated. We investigate wind plant blockage for two atmospheric conditions. Blockage is larger for a wind plant compared to a stand-alone turbine. Also, blockage increases with atmospheric stability. Blockage is amplified by the vertical transport of horizontal momentum as the wind approaches the front-row turbines in the array.
The wind slows down as it approaches a wind plant; this phenomenon is called blockage. As a...
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