the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Large-eddy simulation of an atmospheric bore and associated gravity wave effects on wind farm performance in the Southern Great Plains
Abstract. Gravity waves are a common occurrence in the atmosphere, with a variety of generation mechanisms. Their impact on wind farms has only recently gained attention, with most studies focused on wind farm-induced gravity waves. In this study, the interaction between a wind farm and gravity waves generated by an atmospheric bore event is assessed using multi-scale large-eddy simulations. The atmospheric bore is created by a thunderstorm downdraft from a nocturnal mesoscale convective system (MCS). The associated gravity waves impact a nearby wind farm during the American Wake Experiment (AWAKEN) in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. A two-domain nested setup (Δx = 300 m and 20 m) is used in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, forced with data from the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model, to capture both the formation of the bore and its interaction with individual wind turbines. The MCS is resolved on the large outer domain, where the structure of the bore and the associated gravity waves are found to be especially sensitive to parameterized microphysics processes. On the finer inner domain, gravity wave interactions with individual wind turbines are resolved; wake dynamics are captured using a generalized actuator disk parameterization in WRF. The gravity waves are found to have a strong effect on the atmosphere above the wind farm; however, the effect of the waves is more nuanced closer to the surface where there is additional turbulence, both ambient and wake-generated. Notably, the gravity waves modulate the mesoscale environment by weakening and dissipating the pre-existing low-level jet, which reduces hub-height wind speed and hence the simulated power output, which is confirmed by the observed supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) power data. Additionally, the gravity waves induce local wind direction variations correlated with fluctuations in pressure, which lead to fluctuations in the simulated power output as various turbines within the farm are subjected to waking from nearby turbines.
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Status: open (until 16 Oct 2024)
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RC1: 'Comment on wes-2024-84', Anonymous Referee #1, 20 Sep 2024
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This is a well written paper which addressing a topic of interest which has been little explored. I would suggest that it can be published with some minor changes:
- Line 229: not sure what is meant by the 'bi-modal velocity deficit distribution'. Please elaborate.
- Figure 12b: it would useful to include the measured power output for rows 2-3 also. I understand that there may be commercial confidentiality issues, but presumably if the values are normalised as for row 1 there should not be a problem?
- Figure 13: make it clear that the values are simulated (I presume)?
- Line 512: it is not obvious that there are patches with little or no turbulence in the TKE1.5 scheme which are much different to the other schemes. Maybe this could be highlighted on the plots?
- Line 566: edit the superfluous text from the acknowledgements
There are a few typos:
- Figure 2 caption line 2: should be 'outlined', line 3 should be 'is outlined'
- Line 146: the Obukhov lengths should have units of metres
- Line 180: should be 'number of particle'
- Line 266: should be 'parameterization'
- Line 374: should be 'maximum' (I think?)
- Line 453: should be 'microphysics'
- Line 477: should be 'turbines are less...
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-84-RC1
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Large-eddy simulation of an atmospheric bore and associated gravity wave effects on wind farm performance in the Southern Great Plains Adam S. Wise https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12551368
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