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Wind Measurements from Arc Scans with Doppler Wind Lidar

Journal Article · · Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
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When defining optimal scanning geometries for scanning lidars for wind energy applications, we found that it is still an active field of research. Our paper evaluates uncertainties associated with arc scan geometries and presents recommendations regarding optimal configurations in the atmospheric boundary layer. The analysis is based on arc scan data from a Doppler wind lidar with one elevation angle and seven azimuth angles spanning 30° and focuses on an estimation of 10-min mean wind speed and direction. When flow is horizontally uniform, this approach can provide accurate wind measurements required for wind resource assessments in part because of its high resampling rate. Retrieved wind velocities at a single range gate exhibit good correlation to data from a sonic anemometer on a nearby meteorological tower, and vertical profiles of horizontal wind speed, though derived from range gates located on a conical surface, match those measured by mast-mounted cup anemometers. Uncertainties in the retrieved wind velocity are related to high turbulent wind fluctuation and an inhomogeneous horizontal wind field. Moreover, the radial velocity variance is found to be a robust measure of the uncertainty of the retrieved wind speed because of its relationship to turbulence properties. It is further shown that the standard error of wind speed estimates can be minimized by increasing the azimuthal range beyond 30° and using five to seven azimuth angles.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1236155
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5000-61552
Journal Information:
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Journal Name: Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 32; ISSN 1520-0426
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (5)

Validating precision estimates in horizontal wind measurements from a Doppler lidar journal January 2017
Evaluation of single and multiple Doppler lidar techniques to measure complex flow during the XPIA field campaign journal January 2017
Evaluation of turbulence measurement techniques from a single Doppler lidar journal January 2017
Automated wind turbine wake characterization in complex terrain journal January 2019
An error reduction algorithm to improve lidar turbulence estimates for wind energy journal January 2017

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Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
Doppler
NREL
NWTC
atmospheric boundary layer
lidar
scanning geometries
wind energy