IMPROVED CAPABILITIES FOR SITING WIND FARMS AND MITIGATING IMPACTS ON RADAR OBSERVATIONS
The development of efficient wind energy production involves challenges in technology and interoperability with other systems critical to the national mission. Wind turbines impact radar measurements as a result of their large reflectivity cross section as well as through the Doppler phase shift of their rotating blades. Wind farms can interfere with operational radar in multiple contexts, with degradation impacts on: weather detection such as tornado location, wind shear, and precipitation monitoring; tracking of airplanes where air traffic control software can lose the tracks of aircraft; and in identification of other low flying targets where a wind farm located close to a border might create a dead zone for detecting intruding objects. Objects in the path of an electromagnetic wave affect its propagation characteristics. This includes actual blockage of wave propagation by large individual objects and interference in wave continuity due to diffraction of the beam by individual or multiple objects. As an evolving industry, and the fastest growing segment of the energy sector, wind power is poised to make significant contributions in future energy generation requirements. The ability to develop comprehensive strategies for designing wind turbine locations that are mutually beneficial to both the wind industry that is dependent on production, and radar sites which the nation relies on, is critical to establishing reliable and secure wind energy. The mission needs of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense (DOD), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) dictate that the nation's radar systems remain uninhibited, to the maximum extent possible, by man-made obstructions; however, wind turbines can and do impact the surveillance footprint for monitoring airspace both for national defense as well as critical weather conditions which can impact life and property. As a result, a number of potential wind power locations have been contested on the basis of radar line of site. Radar line of site is dependent on local topography, and varies with atmospheric refractive index which is affected by weather and geographic conditions.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 973589
- Report Number(s):
- SRNS-STI-2010-00014; TRN: US201006%%783
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: First Conference on Weather, Climate, and the New Energy Economy
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
CROSS SECTIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
MONITORING
NATIONAL DEFENSE
PHASE SHIFT
RADAR
REFLECTIVITY
REFRACTIVE INDEX
SHEAR
TOPOGRAPHY
TRAFFIC CONTROL
US DOD
US FAA
WAVE PROPAGATION
WEATHER
WIND POWER
WIND TURBINE ARRAYS
WIND TURBINES