DOE OSTI2012
Accurate, high-resolution meteorological measurements of wind flow in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and surface-atmosphere energy exchange are required for understanding the properties and quality of available wind power at Site 300. Wind speeds at heights found in a typical wind turbine rotor disk (~ 40- 120 m) are driven by the synergistic impacts of atmospheric stability, orography, and land-surface characteristics on the mean wind flow and related turbulence structures in the PBL. In FY11, two Laser and Detection Ranging (LIDAR) units, a 3 m tall flux tower, and a 3 m tall meteorological tower were installed in the northern section of Site 300 as a first step in development of a renewable energy testbed facility. The LIDAR units were programmed to measure wind speed and direction up to 200 m. The flux tower measured land surface-atmospheric energy exchanges and provided information on the mechanisms for turbulence production in the atmosphere and atmospheric stability. Atmospheric stability largely determines wind speed and turbulence profiles in the lower part of the boundary layer where wind turbines reside. In FY12 the SMS project was further expanded by the earlier addition of solar power to the LIDAR units. This enabled the units to be moved to different areas within Site 300 in order to gather a larger spatial range of measurements. Additional LIDAR locations were chosen based on (1) feasibility and logistics (e.g., away from the blast zone and special habitat zones) and (2) areas forecasted to have high wind speeds and/or high turbulence from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations. High turbulence is of interest because very high amounts of turbulent energy can be damaging to turbine components. Between December 2011-April 2012, the two LIDAR units were rotated amongst three locations: the tall (52 m) meteorological tower, the radio tower, and the Matthew area (named after Matthew Simpson) (Figure 1). The radio tower location was in the center of Site 300 and represented the site with highest elevation and potentially highest wind speeds as forecasted by WRF. The Matthew area in the southeast represented a site with high wind speeds and potentially high levels of turbulence. In FY11 we presented a quality control report which illustrated the accuracy of the LIDAR wind speed and direction measurements as compared to the 52 m tall meteorological tower and provided annual statistics for wind speed and direction up to 200 m for the meteorological tower location in the northern section of Site 300. In the FY12 report we present: 1. a second year of LIDAR and flux tower statistics for 2012, 2. an enhanced spatial dataset of LIDAR observations with the addition of two new sites, and 3. a look at off-site LIDAR field campaigns.