Articles | Volume 8, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-433-2023
© 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-8-433-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
29 Mar 2023
Research article |
| 29 Mar 2023
| 29 Mar 2023
Validation of turbulence intensity as simulated by the Weather Research and Forecasting model off the US northeast coast
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Larry K. Berg
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Raghavendra Krishnamurthy
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Rob Newsom
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Anthony Kirincich
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Falmouth, MA 02543, USA
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Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 1007–1032, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1007-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1007-2025, 2025
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Our understanding and ability to observe and model air–sea processes has been identified as a principal limitation to our ability to predict future weather. Few observations exist offshore along the coast of California. To improve our understanding of the air–sea transition zone and support the wind energy industry, two buoys with state-of-the-art equipment were deployed for 1 year. In this article, we present details of the post-processing, algorithms, and analyses.
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
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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.
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.
Lindsay M. Sheridan, Raghu Krishnamurthy, Gabriel García Medina, Brian J. Gaudet, William I. Gustafson Jr., Alicia M. Mahon, William J. Shaw, Rob K. Newsom, Mikhail Pekour, and Zhaoqing Yang
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2059–2084, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2059-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2059-2022, 2022
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Using observations from lidar buoys, five reanalysis and analysis models that support the wind energy community are validated offshore and at rotor-level heights along the California Pacific coast. The models are found to underestimate the observed wind resource. Occasions of large model error occur in conjunction with stable atmospheric conditions, wind speeds associated with peak turbine power production, and mischaracterization of the diurnal wind speed cycle in summer months.
Fan Mei, Mikhail S. Pekour, Darielle Dexheimer, Gijs de Boer, RaeAnn Cook, Jason Tomlinson, Beat Schmid, Lexie A. Goldberger, Rob Newsom, and Jerome D. Fast
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3423–3438, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3423-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3423-2022, 2022
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This work focuses on an expanding number of data sets observed using ARM TBS (133 flights) and UAS (seven flights) platforms by the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility. These data streams provide new perspectives on spatial variability of atmospheric and surface parameters, helping to address critical science questions in Earth system science research, such as the aerosol–cloud interaction in the boundary layer.
Po-Lun Ma, Bryce E. Harrop, Vincent E. Larson, Richard B. Neale, Andrew Gettelman, Hugh Morrison, Hailong Wang, Kai Zhang, Stephen A. Klein, Mark D. Zelinka, Yuying Zhang, Yun Qian, Jin-Ho Yoon, Christopher R. Jones, Meng Huang, Sheng-Lun Tai, Balwinder Singh, Peter A. Bogenschutz, Xue Zheng, Wuyin Lin, Johannes Quaas, Hélène Chepfer, Michael A. Brunke, Xubin Zeng, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Samson Hagos, Zhibo Zhang, Hua Song, Xiaohong Liu, Michael S. Pritchard, Hui Wan, Jingyu Wang, Qi Tang, Peter M. Caldwell, Jiwen Fan, Larry K. Berg, Jerome D. Fast, Mark A. Taylor, Jean-Christophe Golaz, Shaocheng Xie, Philip J. Rasch, and L. Ruby Leung
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 2881–2916, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2881-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2881-2022, 2022
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An alternative set of parameters for E3SM Atmospheric Model version 1 has been developed based on a tuning strategy that focuses on clouds. When clouds in every regime are improved, other aspects of the model are also improved, even though they are not the direct targets for calibration. The recalibrated model shows a lower sensitivity to anthropogenic aerosols and surface warming, suggesting potential improvements to the simulated climate in the past and future.
Lindsay M. Sheridan, Caleb Phillips, Alice C. Orrell, Larry K. Berg, Heidi Tinnesand, Raj K. Rai, Sagi Zisman, Dmitry Duplyakin, and Julia E. Flaherty
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 659–676, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-659-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-659-2022, 2022
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The small wind community relies on simplified wind models and energy production simulation tools to obtain energy generation expectations. We gathered actual wind speed and turbine production data across the US to test the accuracy of models and tools for small wind turbines. This study provides small wind installers and owners with the error metrics and sources of error associated with using models and tools to make performance estimates, empowering them to adjust expectations accordingly.
Ye Liu, Yun Qian, and Larry K. Berg
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 37–51, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-37-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-37-2022, 2022
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Uncertainties in initial conditions (ICs) decrease the accuracy of wind speed forecasts. We find that IC uncertainties can alter wind speed by modulating the weather system. IC uncertainties in local thermal gradient and large-scale circulation jointly contribute to wind speed forecast uncertainties. Wind forecast accuracy in the Columbia River Basin is confined by initial uncertainties in a few specific regions, providing useful information for more intense measurement and modeling studies.
Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Rob K. Newsom, Larry K. Berg, Heng Xiao, Po-Lun Ma, and David D. Turner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4403–4424, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4403-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4403-2021, 2021
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Planetary boundary layer (PBL) height is a critical parameter in atmospheric models. Continuous PBL height measurements from remote sensing measurements are important to understand various boundary layer mechanisms, especially during daytime and evening transition periods. Due to several limitations in existing methodologies to detect PBL height from a Doppler lidar, in this study, a machine learning (ML) approach is tested. The ML model is observed to improve the accuracy by over 50 %.
Daniel Vassallo, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, and Harindra J. S. Fernando
Wind Energ. Sci., 6, 295–309, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-295-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-295-2021, 2021
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Machine learning is quickly becoming a commonly used technique for wind speed and power forecasting and is especially useful when combined with other forecasting techniques. This study utilizes a popular machine learning algorithm, random forest, in an attempt to predict the forecasting error of a statistical forecasting model. Various atmospheric characteristics are used as random forest inputs in an effort to discern the most useful atmospheric information for this purpose.
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.
Daniel Vassallo, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, and Harindra J. S. Fernando
Wind Energ. Sci., 5, 959–975, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-959-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-959-2020, 2020
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Model error and uncertainty is a challenge in the wind energy industry, potentially leading to mischaracterization of millions of dollars' worth of wind resource. This paper combines meteorological knowledge with machine learning techniques, specifically artificial neural networks (ANNs), to better extrapolate wind speeds. It is found that ANNs can reduce power-law extrapolation error by up to 52 % while simultaneously reducing uncertainty. A test case is shown to help decipher the ANN results.
Erin A. Riley, Jessica M. Kleiss, Laura D. Riihimaki, Charles N. Long, Larry K. Berg, and Evgueni Kassianov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2099–2117, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2099-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2099-2020, 2020
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Discrepancies in hourly shallow cumuli cover estimates can be substantial. Instrument detection differences contribute to long-term bias in shallow cumuli cover estimates, whereas narrow field-of-view configurations impact measurement uncertainty as averaging time decreases. A new tool is introduced to visually assess both impacts on sub-hourly cloud cover estimates. Accurate shallow cumuli cover estimation is needed for model–observation comparisons and studying cloud-surface interactions.
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.
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.
Jeffrey D. Mirocha, Matthew J. Churchfield, Domingo Muñoz-Esparza, Raj K. Rai, Yan Feng, Branko Kosović, Sue Ellen Haupt, Barbara Brown, Brandon L. Ennis, Caroline Draxl, Javier Sanz Rodrigo, William J. Shaw, Larry K. Berg, Patrick J. Moriarty, Rodman R. Linn, Veerabhadra R. Kotamarthi, Ramesh Balakrishnan, Joel W. Cline, Michael C. Robinson, and Shreyas Ananthan
Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 589–613, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-589-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-589-2018, 2018
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This paper validates the use of idealized large-eddy simulations with periodic lateral boundary conditions to provide boundary-layer flow quantities of interest for wind energy applications. Sensitivities to model formulation, forcing parameter values, and grid configurations were also examined, both to ascertain the robustness of the technique and to characterize inherent uncertainties, as required for the evaluation of more general wind plant flow simulation approaches under development.
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.
Louis Marelle, Jean-Christophe Raut, Kathy S. Law, Larry K. Berg, Jerome D. Fast, Richard C. Easter, Manish Shrivastava, and Jennie L. Thomas
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 3661–3677, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3661-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3661-2017, 2017
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We develop the WRF-Chem 3.5.1 model to improve simulations of aerosols and ozone in the Arctic. Both species are important air pollutants and climate forcers, but models often struggle to reproduce observations in the Arctic. Our developments concern pollutant emissions, mixing, chemistry, and removal, including processes related to snow and sea ice. The effect of these changes are quantitatively validated against observations, showing significant improvements compared to the original model.
Jean-Christophe Raut, Louis Marelle, Jerome D. Fast, Jennie L. Thomas, Bernadett Weinzierl, Katharine S. Law, Larry K. Berg, Anke Roiger, Richard C. Easter, Katharina Heimerl, Tatsuo Onishi, Julien Delanoë, and Hans Schlager
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10969–10995, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10969-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10969-2017, 2017
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We study the cross-polar transport of plumes from Siberian fires to the Arctic in summer, both in terms of transport pathways and efficiency of deposition processes. Those plumes containing soot may originate from anthropogenic and biomass burning sources in mid-latitude regions and may impact the Arctic climate by depositing on snow and ice surfaces. We evaluate the role of the respective source contributions, investigate the transport of plumes and treat pathway-dependent removal of particles.
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.
Ivan Ortega, Sean Coburn, Larry K. Berg, Kathy Lantz, Joseph Michalsky, Richard A. Ferrare, Johnathan W. Hair, Chris A. Hostetler, and Rainer Volkamer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 3893–3910, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3893-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3893-2016, 2016
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We present an inherently calibrated retrieval to measure aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the aerosol phase function parameter, g, based on measurements of azimuth distributions of the Raman scattering probability (RSP), the near-absolute rotational Raman scattering (RRS) intensity by the University of Colorado two-dimensional (2-D) MAX-DOAS. The retrievals are maximally sensitive at low AOD and do not require absolute radiance calibration. We compare results with data from independent sensors.
K. K. Shukla, K. Niranjan Kumar, D. V. Phanikumar, R. K. Newsom, V. R. Kotamarthi, T. B. M. J. Ouarda, and M. V. Ratnam
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-162, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-162, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
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Estimation of Cloud base height was carried out by using various ground based instruments (Doppler Lidar and Ceilometer) and satellite datasets (MODIS) over central Himalayan region for the first time. The present study demonstrates the potential of Doppler Lidar in precise estimation of cloud base height and updraft velocities. More such deployments will be invaluable inputs for regional weather prediction models over complex Himalayan terrains.
Chun Zhao, Maoyi Huang, Jerome D. Fast, Larry K. Berg, Yun Qian, Alex Guenther, Dasa Gu, Manish Shrivastava, Ying Liu, Stacy Walters, Gabriele Pfister, Jiming Jin, John E. Shilling, and Carsten Warneke
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 1959–1976, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1959-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1959-2016, 2016
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In this study, the latest version of MEGAN is coupled within CLM4 in WRF-Chem. In this implementation, MEGAN shares a consistent vegetation map with CLM4. This improved modeling framework is used to investigate the impact of two land surface schemes on BVOCs and examine the sensitivity of BVOCs to vegetation distributions in California. This study indicates that more effort is needed to obtain the most appropriate and accurate land cover data sets for climate and air quality models.
L. K. Berg, M. Shrivastava, R. C. Easter, J. D. Fast, E. G. Chapman, Y. Liu, and R. A. Ferrare
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 409–429, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-409-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-409-2015, 2015
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This work presents a new methodology for representing regional-scale impacts of cloud processing on both aerosol and trace gases in sub-grid-scale convective clouds. Using the new methodology, we can better simulate the aerosol lifecycle over large areas. The results presented in this work highlight the potential change in column-integrated amounts of black carbon, organic aerosol, and sulfate aerosol, which were found to range from -50% for black carbon to +40% for sulfate.
D. Müller, C. A. Hostetler, R. A. Ferrare, S. P. Burton, E. Chemyakin, A. Kolgotin, J. W. Hair, A. L. Cook, D. B. Harper, R. R. Rogers, R. W. Hare, C. S. Cleckner, M. D. Obland, J. Tomlinson, L. K. Berg, and B. Schmid
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 3487–3496, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3487-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3487-2014, 2014
E. Kassianov, J. Barnard, M. Pekour, L. K. Berg, J. Shilling, C. Flynn, F. Mei, and A. Jefferson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 3247–3261, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3247-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3247-2014, 2014
A. J. Scarino, M. D. Obland, J. D. Fast, S. P. Burton, R. A. Ferrare, C. A. Hostetler, L. K. Berg, B. Lefer, C. Haman, J. W. Hair, R. R. Rogers, C. Butler, A. L. Cook, and D. B. Harper
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 5547–5560, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5547-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5547-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Thematic area: Wind and the atmosphere | Topic: Wind and turbulence
Performance of wind assessment datasets in United States coastal areas
Simulated meteorological impacts of offshore wind turbines and sensitivity to the amount of added turbulence kinetic energy
Evaluating mesoscale model predictions of diurnal speedup events in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area of California
Swell impacts on an offshore wind farm in stable boundary layer: wake flow and energy budget analysis
An analytical formulation for turbulence kinetic energy added by wind turbines based on large-eddy simulation
Tall wind profile validation of ERA5, NORA3, and NEWA datasets using lidar observations
Flow acceleration statistics: a new paradigm for wind-driven loads, towards probabilistic turbine design
Three-year database of atmospheric measurements combined with associated operating parameters from a wind farm of 2MW turbines and rotor geometry
Observations of wind farm wake recovery at an operating wind farm
Periods of constant wind speed: how long do they last in the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer?
Brief communication: An elliptical parameterisation of the wind direction rose
Characterization of local wind profiles: a random forest approach for enhanced wind profile extrapolation
Simulations suggest offshore wind farms modify low-level jets
On the lidar-turbulence paradox and possible countermeasures
The actuator farm model for large eddy simulation (LES) of wind-farm-induced atmospheric gravity waves and farm–farm interaction
Understanding the impact of data gaps on long-term offshore wind resource estimates
Operational wind plants increase planetary boundary layer height: An observational study
Converging profile relationships for offshore wind speed and turbulence intensity
Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Risk Assessment for Offshore Wind Energy Sites
A simple steady-state inflow model of the neutral and stable atmospheric boundary layer applied to wind turbine wake simulations
Influences of lidar scanning parameters on wind turbine wake retrievals in complex terrain
Experimental evaluation of wind turbine wake turbulence impacts on a general aviation aircraft
Underestimation of strong wind speeds offshore in ERA5: evidence, discussion and correction
Brief communication: A simple axial induction modification to the Weather Research and Forecasting Fitch wind farm parameterization
Enhancing turbulent fluctuation measurement with tailored wind lidar profilers
Impact of swell waves on atmospheric surface turbulence: wave–turbulence decomposition methods
Machine-learning-based estimate of the wind speed over complex terrain using the long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network
Method to predict the minimum measurement and experiment durations needed to achieve converged and significant results in a wind energy field experiment
Evaluation of wind farm parameterizations in the WRF model under different atmospheric stability conditions with high-resolution wake simulations
Renewable Energy Complementarity (RECom) maps – a comprehensive visualisation tool to support spatial diversification
Control-oriented modelling of wind direction variability
Machine learning methods to improve spatial predictions of coastal wind speed profiles and low-level jets using single-level ERA5 data
Offshore low-level jet observations and model representation using lidar buoy data off the California coast
Measurement-driven large-eddy simulations of a diurnal cycle during a wake-steering field campaign
The fractal turbulent–non-turbulent interface in the atmosphere
Data assimilation of realistic boundary-layer flows for wind-turbine applications – An LES study
TOSCA – an open-source, finite-volume, large-eddy simulation (LES) environment for wind farm flows
Quantitative comparison of power production and power quality onshore and offshore: a case study from the eastern United States
The wind farm pressure field
Realistic turbulent inflow conditions for estimating the performance of a floating wind turbine
Brief communication: On the definition of the low-level jet
A decision-tree-based measure–correlate–predict approach for peak wind gust estimation from a global reanalysis dataset
Revealing inflow and wake conditions of a 6 MW floating turbine
Stochastic gradient descent for wind farm optimization
Modelling the impact of trapped lee waves on offshore wind farm power output
Applying a random time mapping to Mann-modeled turbulence for the generation of intermittent wind fields
From shear to veer: theory, statistics, and practical application
Quantification and correction of motion influence for nacelle-based lidar systems on floating wind turbines
Gaussian mixture models for the optimal sparse sampling of offshore wind resource
Dependence of turbulence estimations on nacelle lidar scanning strategies
Lindsay M. Sheridan, Jiali Wang, Caroline Draxl, Nicola Bodini, Caleb Phillips, Dmitry Duplyakin, Heidi Tinnesand, Raj K. Rai, Julia E. Flaherty, Larry K. Berg, Chunyong Jung, Ethan Young, and Rao Kotamarthi
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 1551–1574, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1551-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1551-2025, 2025
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Three recent wind resource datasets are assessed for their skills in representing annual average wind speeds and seasonal, diurnal, and interannual trends in the wind resource in coastal locations to support customers interested in small and midsize wind energy.
Daphne Quint, Julie K. Lundquist, Nicola Bodini, and David Rosencrans
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 1269–1301, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1269-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1269-2025, 2025
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Offshore wind farms along the US East Coast can have limited effects on local weather. To study these effects, we include wind farms near Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and we test different amounts of turbulence in our model. We analyze changes in wind, temperature, and turbulence. Simulated effects on surface temperature and turbulence change depending on how much turbulence is added to the model. The extent of the wind farm wake depends on how deep the atmospheric boundary layer is.
Robert S. Arthur, Alex Rybchuk, Timothy W. Juliano, Gabriel Rios, Sonia Wharton, Julie K. Lundquist, and Jerome D. Fast
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 1187–1209, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1187-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1187-2025, 2025
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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 gap leads to increased energy production. We demonstrate that the new model configuration performs similarly to a more established approach, with some evidence of improved wind speed predictions, and provide guidance for future model testing.
Xu Ning and Mostafa Bakhoday-Paskyabi
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 1101–1122, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1101-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-1101-2025, 2025
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Waves interact with the overlying wind field by modifying the stresses at the atmosphere–ocean interface. We develop and employ a parameterization method of wave-induced stresses in the numerical simulation of an offshore wind farm in a stable atmospheric boundary layer. This work demonstrates how swells change the kinetic energy transport and induce wind veer and wake deflection, leading to significant variations in the power output of wind turbines at different positions of the wind farm.
Ali Khanjari, Asim Feroz, and Cristina L. Archer
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 887–905, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-887-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-887-2025, 2025
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Wind turbines add turbulence to the atmosphere behind them, especially 4–6 diameters downstream and near the rotor top. We propose an equation that predicts the distribution of added turbulence as a function of a turbine parameter (thrust coefficient) and an atmospheric parameter (undisturbed turbulence intensity before the turbine). We find that our equation performs well, although not perfectly. Ultimately this equation can be used to better understand how wind turbines affect the atmosphere.
Etienne Cheynet, Jan Markus Diezel, Hilde Haakenstad, Øyvind Breivik, Alfredo Peña, and Joachim Reuder
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 733–754, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-733-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-733-2025, 2025
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This study analyses wind speed data at heights up to 500 m to support the design of future large offshore wind turbines and airborne wind energy systems. We compared three wind models (ERA5, NORA3, and NEWA) with lidar measurements at five sites using four performance metrics. ERA5 and NORA3 performed equally well offshore, with NORA3 typically outperforming the other two models onshore. More generally, the optimal choice of model depends on site, altitude, and evaluation criteria.
Mark Kelly
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 535–558, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-535-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-535-2025, 2025
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Industrial standards for wind turbine design are based on 10 min statistics of wind speed at turbine hub height, treating fluctuations as turbulence. But recent work shows that the effect of strong transients is described by flow acceleration. We devise a method to measure the acceleration that turbines encounter; the extremes offshore defy 10 min averages due to various phenomena beyond turbulence. These findings are translated into a recipe supporting statistical design.
Caroline Braud, Pascal Keravec, Ingrid Neunaber, Sandrine Aubrun, Jean-Luc Attie, Pierre Durand, Philippe Ricaud, Jean-François Georgis, Emmanuel Leclerc, Lise Mourre, and Claire Taymans
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-12, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-12, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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A meteorological 3 year dataset from an operational wind farm of six 2 MW turbines, has been made available. This includes a meteorological mast equipped with sonic anemometers at four different heights and radiometer measurements for atmospheric stability analysis. Simultaneously, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and the scanned geometry of the turbine blades are provided. This database has been made accessible to the research community (https://awit.aeris-data.fr).
Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Rob K. Newsom, Colleen M. Kaul, Stefano Letizia, Mikhail Pekour, Nicholas Hamilton, Duli Chand, Donna Flynn, Nicola Bodini, and Patrick Moriarty
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 361–380, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-361-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-361-2025, 2025
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This study examines how atmospheric phenomena affect the recovery of wind farm wake – the disturbed air behind turbines. In regions like Oklahoma, where wind farms are often clustered, understanding wake recovery is crucial. We found that wind farms can alter phenomena like low-level jets, which are common in Oklahoma, by deflecting them above the wind farm. As a result, the impact of wakes can be observed up to 1–2 km above ground level.
Daniela Moreno, Jan Friedrich, Matthias Wächter, Jörg Schwarte, and Joachim Peinke
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 347–360, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-347-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-347-2025, 2025
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Unexpected load events measured on operating wind turbines are not accurately predicted by numerical simulations. We introduce the periods of constant wind speed as a possible cause of such events. We measure and characterize their statistics from atmospheric data. Further comparisons to standard modelled data and experimental turbulence data suggest that such events are not intrinsic to small-scale turbulence and are not accurately described by current standard wind models.
Edward Hart
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-187, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-187, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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A parametric model for the wind direction rose is presented, with testing on real offshore wind farm data indicating the model is indeed representative. The presented model provides opportunities for standardisation and enables more systematic analyses of wind direction impacts and sensitivities.
Farkhondeh (Hanie) Rouholahnejad and Julia Gottschall
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 143–159, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-143-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-143-2025, 2025
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In wind energy, precise wind speed prediction at hub height is vital. Our study in the Dutch North Sea reveals that the on-site-trained random forest model outperforms the global reanalysis data, ERA5, in accuracy and precision. Trained within a 200 km range, the model effectively extends the wind speed vertically but experiences bias. It also outperforms ERA5 corrected with measurements in capturing wind speed variations and fine wind patterns, highlighting its potential for site assessment.
Daphne Quint, Julie K. Lundquist, and David Rosencrans
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 117–142, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-117-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-117-2025, 2025
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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 1 year of simulations with and without wind farms. Here, we describe LLJ characteristics and how they change with wind farms.
Alfredo Peña, Ginka G. Yankova, and Vasiliki Mallini
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 83–102, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-83-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-83-2025, 2025
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Lidars are vastly used in wind energy, but most users struggle when interpreting lidar turbulence measures. Here, we explain the difficulty in converting them into standard measurements. We show two ways of converting lidar to in situ turbulence measurements, both using neural networks: one of them is based on physics, while the other is purely data-driven. They show promising results when compared to high-quality turbulence measurements from a tall mast.
Sebastiano Stipa, Arjun Ajay, and Joshua Brinkerhoff
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 2301–2332, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2301-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2301-2024, 2024
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This study presents the actuator farm model, a new method for modeling wind turbines within large wind farms. The model greatly reduces computational cost when compared to traditional actuator wind turbine models and is beneficial for studying flow around large wind farms as well as the interaction between multiple wind farms. Results obtained from numerical simulations show excellent agreement with past wind turbine models, demonstrating its utility for future large-scale wind farm simulations.
Martin Georg Jonietz Alvarez, Warren Watson, and Julia Gottschall
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 2217–2233, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2217-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2217-2024, 2024
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Offshore wind measurements are often affected by gaps. We investigated how these gaps affect wind resource assessments and whether filling them reduces their effect. We find that the effect of gaps on the estimated long-term wind resource is lower than expected and that data gap filling does not significantly change the outcome. These results indicate a need to reduce current wind data availability requirements for offshore measurement campaigns.
Aliza Abraham, Matteo Puccioni, Arianna Jordan, Emina Maric, Nicola Bodini, Nicholas Hamilton, Stefano Letizia, Petra M. Klein, Elizabeth Smith, Sonia Wharton, Jonathan Gero, Jamey D. Jacob, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Rob K. Newsom, Mikhail Pekour, and Patrick Moriarty
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-148, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-148, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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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.
Gus Jeans
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 2001–2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2001-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2001-2024, 2024
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An extensive set of met mast data offshore northwestern Europe are used to reduce uncertainty in offshore wind speed and turbulence intensity. The performance of widely used industry standard relationships is quantified, while some new empirical relationships are derived for practical application. Motivations include encouraging appropriate convergence of traditionally separate technical disciplines within the rapidly growing offshore wind energy industry.
Lauren A. Mudd and Peter J. Vickery
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-123, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-123, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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This research presents an assessment of hurricane risk to offshore wind turbine systems in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricanes that frequent this area can potentially exceed design limits prescribed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) wind design standards. Translations between the well-established Saffir-Simpson scale and the IEC design classes were developed to convert to communicate of hurricane severity in terms of design load conditions familiar to wind turbine designers.
Maarten Paul van der Laan, Mark Kelly, Mads Baungaard, Antariksh Dicholkar, and Emily Louise Hodgson
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1985–2000, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1985-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1985-2024, 2024
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Wind turbines are increasing in size and operate more frequently above the atmospheric surface layer, which requires improved inflow models for numerical simulations of turbine interaction. In this work, a novel steady-state model of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is introduced. Numerical wind turbine flow simulations subjected to shallow and tall ABLs are conducted, and the proposed model shows improved performance compared to other state-of-the-art steady-state models.
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.
Jonathan D. Rogers
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1849–1868, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1849-2024, 2024
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This paper describes the results of a flight experiment to assess the existence of potential safety risks to a general aviation aircraft from added turbulence in the wake of a wind turbine. A general aviation aircraft was flown through the wake of an operating wind turbine at different downwind distances. Results indicated that there were small increases in disturbances to the aircraft due to added turbulence in the wake, but they never approached levels that would pose a safety risk.
Rémi Gandoin and Jorge Garza
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1727–1745, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1727-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1727-2024, 2024
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ERA5 has become the workhorse of most wind resource assessment applications, as it compares better with in situ measurements than other reanalyses. However, for design purposes, ERA5 suffers from a drawback: it underestimates strong wind speeds offshore (approx. from 10 m s−1). This is not widely discussed in the scientific literature. We address this bias and proposes a simple, robust correction. This article supports the growing need for use-case-specific validations of reanalysis datasets.
Lukas Vollmer, Balthazar Arnoldus Maria Sengers, and Martin Dörenkämper
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1689–1693, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1689-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1689-2024, 2024
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This study proposes a modification to a well-established wind farm parameterization used in mesoscale models. The wind speed at the location of the turbine, which is used to calculate power and thrust, is corrected to approximate the free wind speed. Results show that the modified parameterization produces more accurate estimates of the turbine’s power curve.
Maxime Thiébaut, Frédéric Delbos, Cristina Benzo, Loïc Mahe, and Florent Guinot
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-93, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-93, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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This paper explores potential technical enhancements to wind lidar profilers for improved turbulence measurement. The study separately tests the effects of increased sampling rate and reduced probe length against a commercial lidar of the same type. Various turbulence metrics were quantified to evaluate the impact of these technical modifications. The results indicate that increasing the sampling rate is the most valuable enhancement for turbulence measurement.
Mostafa Bakhoday Paskyabi
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1631–1645, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1631-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1631-2024, 2024
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The exchange of momentum and energy between the atmosphere and ocean depends on air–sea processes, especially wave-related ones. Precision in representing these interactions is vital for offshore wind turbine and farm design and operation. The development of a reliable wave–turbulence decomposition method to remove wave-induced interference from single-height wind measurements is essential for these applications and enhances our grasp of wind coherence within the wave boundary layer.
Cássia Maria Leme Beu and Eduardo Landulfo
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1431–1450, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1431-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1431-2024, 2024
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Extrapolating the wind profile for complex terrain through the long short-term memory model outperformed the traditional power law methodology, which due to its universal nature cannot capture local features as the machine-learning methodology does. Moreover, considering the importance of investigating the wind potential and the need for alternative energy sources, it is motivating to find that a short observational campaign can produce better results than the traditional techniques.
Daniel R. Houck, Nathaniel B. de Velder, David C. Maniaci, and Brent C. Houchens
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1189–1209, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1189-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1189-2024, 2024
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Experiments offer incredible value to science, but results must come with an uncertainty quantification to be meaningful. We present a method to simulate a proposed experiment, calculate uncertainties, and determine the measurement duration (total time of measurements) and the experiment duration (total time to collect the required measurement data when including condition variability and time when measurement is not occurring) required to produce statistically significant and converged results.
Oscar García-Santiago, Andrea N. Hahmann, Jake Badger, and Alfredo Peña
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 963–979, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-963-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-963-2024, 2024
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This study compares the results of two wind farm parameterizations (WFPs) in the Weather Research and Forecasting model, simulating a two-turbine array under three atmospheric stabilities with large-eddy simulations. We show that the WFPs accurately depict wind speeds either near turbines or in the far-wake areas, but not both. The parameterizations’ performance varies by variable (wind speed or turbulent kinetic energy) and atmospheric stability, with reduced accuracy in stable conditions.
Til Kristian Vrana and Harald G. Svendsen
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 919–932, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-919-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-919-2024, 2024
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We developed new ways to plot comprehensive wind resource maps that show the revenue potential of different locations for future wind power developments. The relative capacity factor is introduced as an indicator showing the expected mean power output. The market value factor is introduced, which captures the expected mean market value relative to other wind parks. The Renewable Energy Complementarity (RECom) index combines the two into a single index, resulting in the RECom map.
Scott Dallas, Adam Stock, and Edward Hart
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 841–867, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-841-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-841-2024, 2024
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This review presents the current understanding of wind direction variability in the context of control-oriented modelling of wind turbines and wind farms in a manner suitable to a wide audience. Motivation comes from the significant and commonly seen yaw error of horizontal axis wind turbines, which carries substantial negative impacts on annual energy production and the levellised cost of wind energy. Gaps in the literature are identified, and the critical challenges in this area are discussed.
Christoffer Hallgren, Jeanie A. Aird, Stefan Ivanell, Heiner Körnich, Ville Vakkari, Rebecca J. Barthelmie, Sara C. Pryor, and Erik Sahlée
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 821–840, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-821-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-821-2024, 2024
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Knowing the wind speed across the rotor of a wind turbine is key in making good predictions of the power production. However, models struggle to capture both the speed and the shape of the wind profile. Using machine learning methods based on the model data, we show that the predictions can be improved drastically. The work focuses on three coastal sites, spread over the Northern Hemisphere (the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the US Atlantic coast) with similar results for all sites.
Lindsay M. Sheridan, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, William I. Gustafson Jr., Ye Liu, Brian J. Gaudet, Nicola Bodini, Rob K. Newsom, and Mikhail Pekour
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 741–758, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-741-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-741-2024, 2024
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In 2020, lidar-mounted buoys owned by the US Department of Energy (DOE) were deployed off the California coast in two wind energy lease areas and provided valuable year-long analyses of offshore low-level jet (LLJ) characteristics at heights relevant to wind turbines. In addition to the LLJ climatology, this work provides validation of LLJ representation in atmospheric models that are essential for assessing the potential energy yield of offshore wind farms.
Eliot Quon
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 495–518, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-495-2024, 2024
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Engineering models used to design wind farms generally do not account for realistic atmospheric conditions that can rapidly evolve from minute to minute. This paper uses a first-principles simulation technique to predict the performance of five wind turbines during a wind farm control experiment. Challenges included limited observations and atypical conditions. The simulation accurately predicts the aerodynamics of a turbine when it is situated partially within the wake of an upstream turbine.
Lars Neuhaus, Matthias Wächter, and Joachim Peinke
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 439–452, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-439-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-439-2024, 2024
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Future wind turbines reach unprecedented heights and are affected by wind conditions that have not yet been studied in detail. With increasing height, a transition to laminar conditions with a turbulent–non-turbulent interface (TNTI) becomes more likely. In this paper, the presence and fractality of this TNTI in the atmosphere are studied. Typical fractalities known from ideal laboratory and numerical studies and a frequent occurrence of the TNTI at heights of multi-megawatt turbines are found.
Linus Wrba, Antonia Englberger, Andreas Dörnbrack, Gerard Kilroy, and Norman Wildmann
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-12, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-12, 2024
Revised manuscript under review for WES
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It is crucial to understand the loads and power production of wind turbines under different atmospheric situations (e.g. night and day changes). Computational simulations are a widely used tool to get more knowledge of the performance and the wake of wind turbines. In this study realistic velocity profiles of the atmosphere are used as input for simulations so that these simulations become more realistic. The generated realistic flow is used as inflow for wind-turbine simulations.
Sebastiano Stipa, Arjun Ajay, Dries Allaerts, and Joshua Brinkerhoff
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 297–320, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-297-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-297-2024, 2024
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In the current study, we introduce TOSCA (Toolbox fOr Stratified Convective Atmospheres), an open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool, and demonstrate its capabilities by simulating the flow around a large wind farm, operating in realistic flow conditions. This is one of the grand challenges of the present decade and can yield better insight into physical phenomena that strongly affect wind farm operation but which are not yet fully understood.
Rebecca Foody, Jacob Coburn, Jeanie A. Aird, Rebecca J. Barthelmie, and Sara C. Pryor
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 263–280, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-263-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-263-2024, 2024
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Using lidar-derived wind speed measurements at approx. 150 m height at onshore and offshore locations, we quantify the advantages of deploying wind turbines offshore in terms of the amount of electrical power produced and the higher reliability and predictability of the electrical power.
Ronald B. Smith
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 253–261, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-253-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-253-2024, 2024
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Recent papers have investigated the impact of turbine drag on local wind patterns, but these studies have not given a full explanation of the induced pressure field. The pressure field blocks and deflects the wind and in other ways modifies farm efficiency. Current gravity wave models are complex and provide no estimation tools. We dig deeper into the cause of the pressure field and provide approximate closed-form expressions for pressure field effects.
Cédric Raibaudo, Jean-Christophe Gilloteaux, and Laurent Perret
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1711–1725, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1711-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1711-2023, 2023
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The work presented here proposes interfacing experimental measurements performed in a wind tunnel with simulations conducted with the aeroelastic code FAST and applied to a floating wind turbine model under wave-induced motion. FAST simulations using experiments match well with those obtained using the inflow generation method provided by TurbSim. The highest surge motion frequencies show a significant decrease in the mean power produced by the turbine and a mitigation of the flow dynamics.
Christoffer Hallgren, Jeanie A. Aird, Stefan Ivanell, Heiner Körnich, Rebecca J. Barthelmie, Sara C. Pryor, and Erik Sahlée
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1651–1658, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1651-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1651-2023, 2023
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Low-level jets (LLJs) are special types of non-ideal wind profiles affecting both wind energy production and loads on a wind turbine. However, among LLJ researchers, there is no consensus regarding which definition to use to identify these profiles. In this work, we compare two different ways of identifying the LLJ – the falloff definition and the shear definition – and argue why the shear definition is better suited to wind energy applications.
Serkan Kartal, Sukanta Basu, and Simon J. Watson
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1533–1551, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1533-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1533-2023, 2023
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Peak wind gust is a crucial meteorological variable for wind farm planning and operations. Unfortunately, many wind farms do not have on-site measurements of it. In this paper, we propose a machine-learning approach (called INTRIGUE, decIsioN-TRee-based wInd GUst Estimation) that utilizes numerous inputs from a public-domain reanalysis dataset, generating long-term, site-specific peak wind gust series.
Nikolas Angelou, Jakob Mann, and Camille Dubreuil-Boisclair
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1511–1531, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1511-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1511-2023, 2023
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This study presents the first experimental investigation using two nacelle-mounted wind lidars that reveal the upwind and downwind conditions relative to a full-scale floating wind turbine. We find that in the case of floating wind turbines with small pitch and roll oscillating motions (< 1°), the ambient turbulence is the main driving factor that determines the propagation of the wake characteristics.
Julian Quick, Pierre-Elouan Rethore, Mads Mølgaard Pedersen, Rafael Valotta Rodrigues, and Mikkel Friis-Møller
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1235–1250, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1235-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1235-2023, 2023
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Wind turbine positions are often optimized to avoid wake losses. These losses depend on atmospheric conditions, such as the wind speed and direction. The typical optimization scheme involves discretizing the atmospheric inputs, then considering every possible set of these discretized inputs in every optimization iteration. This work presents stochastic gradient descent (SGD) as an alternative, which randomly samples the atmospheric conditions during every optimization iteration.
Sarah J. Ollier and Simon J. Watson
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1179–1200, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1179-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1179-2023, 2023
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This modelling study shows that topographic trapped lee waves (TLWs) modify flow behaviour and power output in offshore wind farms. We demonstrate that TLWs can substantially alter the wind speeds at individual wind turbines and effect the power output of the turbine and whole wind farm. The impact on wind speeds and power is dependent on which part of the TLW wave cycle interacts with the wind turbines and wind farm. Positive and negative impacts of TLWs on power output are observed.
Khaled Yassin, Arne Helms, Daniela Moreno, Hassan Kassem, Leo Höning, and Laura J. Lukassen
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1133–1152, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1133-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1133-2023, 2023
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The current turbulent wind field models stated in the IEC 61400-1 standard underestimate the probability of extreme changes in wind velocity. This underestimation can lead to the false calculation of extreme and fatigue loads on the turbine. In this work, we are trying to apply a random time-mapping technique to one of the standard turbulence models to adapt to such extreme changes. The turbulent fields generated are compared with a standard wind field to show the effects of this new mapping.
Mark Kelly and Maarten Paul van der Laan
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 975–998, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-975-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-975-2023, 2023
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The turning of the wind with height, which is known as veer, can affect wind turbine performance. Thus far meteorology has only given idealized descriptions of veer, which has not yet been related in a way readily usable for wind energy. Here we derive equations for veer in terms of meteorological quantities and provide practically usable forms in terms of measurable shear (change in wind speed with height). Flow simulations and measurements at turbine heights support these developments.
Moritz Gräfe, Vasilis Pettas, Julia Gottschall, and Po Wen Cheng
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 925–946, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-925-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-925-2023, 2023
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Inflow wind field measurements from nacelle-based lidar systems offer great potential for different applications including turbine control, load validation and power performance measurements. On floating wind turbines nacelle-based lidar measurements are affected by the dynamic behavior of the floating foundations. Therefore, the effects on lidar wind speed measurements induced by floater dynamics must be well understood. A new model for quantification of these effects is introduced in our work.
Robin Marcille, Maxime Thiébaut, Pierre Tandeo, and Jean-François Filipot
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 771–786, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-771-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-771-2023, 2023
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A novel data-driven method is proposed to design an optimal sensor network for the reconstruction of offshore wind resources. Based on unsupervised learning of numerical weather prediction wind data, it provides a simple yet efficient method for the siting of sensors, outperforming state-of-the-art methods for this application. It is applied in the main French offshore wind energy development areas to provide guidelines for the deployment of floating lidars for wind resource assessment.
Wei Fu, Alessandro Sebastiani, Alfredo Peña, and Jakob Mann
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 677–690, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-677-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-677-2023, 2023
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Nacelle lidars with different beam scanning locations and two types of systems are considered for inflow turbulence estimations using both numerical simulations and field measurements. The turbulence estimates from a sonic anemometer at the hub height of a Vestas V52 turbine are used as references. The turbulence parameters are retrieved using the radial variances and a least-squares procedure. The findings from numerical simulations have been verified by the analysis of the field measurements.
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Short summary
Turbulence intensity is critical for wind turbine design and operation as it affects wind power generation efficiency. Turbulence measurements in the marine environment are limited. We use a model to derive turbulence intensity and test how sea surface temperature data may impact the simulated turbulence intensity and atmospheric stability. The model slightly underestimates turbulence, and improved sea surface temperature data reduce the bias. Error with unrealistic mesoscale flow is identified.
Turbulence intensity is critical for wind turbine design and operation as it affects wind power...
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