Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Science Rendezvous > 2009 Posters
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Applications of the High Resolution Doppler Lidar Measurements for Nighttime Atmospheric Boundary Layer Study and Wind-Energy Research

Pichugina Y. L. ¹,², R. M. Banta², N. D. Kelley³, R.M. Hardesty², B. J. Jonkman³, W. A. Brewer², S. P. Sandberg², and J. L. Machol¹,²

¹ Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Boulder, Colorado, USA, ² Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), NOAA, Boulder, Colorado, USA, ³National Wind Technology Center/National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, USA

The High-Resolution Doppler Lidar (HRDL), designed and developed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), has been highly effective in the study of dynamic processes in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) because of its temporal and spatial resolution. The structure and dynamics of this nighttime stable boundary layer are poorly understood because of a variety of sampling issues, but are very important for improving numerical weather prediction model forecasts. The current fast-growing demand for alternative wind energy requires development of new wind farms and increasing the capacity of wind turbines by capturing stronger winds at higher altitudes. Accurate estimates of wind resource potential and turbulence structure of the ABL at the heights of turbine rotors is very important as the height of some commercial turbines may reach 200-250 m to take advantage of stronger wind speeds at higher altitudes. The estimation of wind profiles by rawinsonde or radar-wind-profiler data is often limited by either biases in the nighttime observations, or occasional unavailability of data. Tall instrumented towers used in wind-energy studies are typically about 50 m in height and very few reach 120-200 m. Such towers are expensive to deploy. Extrapolation of tower data to higher altitudes is not very reliable and does not accurately reflect the true vertical structure of the wind-field.

This paper presents results of wind measurements obtained by HRDL during the field project near the town of Lamar, Colorado in September 2003. The mean wind fields, turbulence, and turbulence intensities determined from HRDL vertical-slice scans show good agreement with sonic anemometer and sodar high confidence measurements. The ability of HRDL to provide continuous information about wind and turbulence conditions at the turbine height and above the range of the tower measurements makes HRDL a powerful instrument for studies of the nighttime boundary layer features.