3D Wind and Turbulence Characteristics of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Abstract

nd and turbulence characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer experiment (3D Wind) was conducted to evaluate innovative remote sensing and in situ platforms for measurements of wind and turbulence regimes. The experiment is part of a planned series that focuses on quantifying wind and turbulence characteristics at the scales of modern wind turbines and wind farms and was conducted in northern Indiana in May 2012. 3D Wind had the following specific objectives: (i) intercomparison experiments evaluating wind speed profiles across the wind turbine rotor plane from traditional cup anemometers and wind vanes on a meteorological mast and from a tethered balloon, sonic anemometers (mast mounted and on an unmanned aerial vehicle), three vertical-pointing (continuous wave) lidars and a pulsed scanning lidar, and (ii) integrate these measurements and output from 3-km-resolution (over the inner domain) simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting Model to develop a detailed depiction of the atmospheric flow, upwind, within, and downwind of a large, irregularly spaced wind farm. This paper provides an overview of the measurement techniques, their advantages and disadvantages focusing on the integration of wind and turbulence characteristics that are necessary for wind farm development and operation. Analyses of the measurements are summarized to characterize instrument cross comparison, wind profiles, and spatial gradients and wind turbine wakes.