The use of remote sensing in wind energy projects

Currently the renewable energy community relies on direct measurements of the conditions at a developing or operational site. However, it may be possible to use remote sensing to measure wind speed and direction, turbulence, and temperature, moisture, and water vapor.

The Issues

• How can you use remote sensing?
• How good is remote sensing?
• What can you do with remote sensing that you couldn't do otherwise?

Our Contribution

• How to Plan an Effective Remote Sensing Campaign. A white paper by Jennifer Newmann and Kathy Moore, published in North American Wind Power, April 2014.

Other Resources

Standards and best practices:

• IEA Recommended Practices for Ground-Based Remote Sensing for Wind Resource Assessment Recommended practices for the use of ground-based remote sensing (mainly sodar and lidar), published in January 2013 by IEA Wind.
• DNV-RP-J101: Use of Remote Sensing for Wind Energy Assessments. DNV’s guidelines for using remote sensing to gather data for wind resource and energy assessments, published in April 2011.
• Remote Sensing Best Practice. Sgurr Energy's best practices, presented at EWEA Offshore in 2011.

Comparisons of lidar with cup anemometers:

• Antoniou I, Jørgensen HE, Mikkelsen T, Frandsen S, Barthelmie R, Perstrup C, Hurtig M. Offshore wind profile measurements from remote sensing instruments. In Proceedings of the European Wind Energy Association Conference & Exhibition. Athens, 2006.
• Bingöl, Ferhat; Mann, Jakob; Foussekis, Dimitri, 2009: Conically scanning lidar error in complex terrain. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 18 (2), pp. 189-195(7). Emeis, Stefan; Harris, Michael; Banta, Robert M., 2007: Boundary-layer anemometry by optical remote sensing for wind energy applications. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 16 (4), pp. 337-347(11).
• Hasager, Charlotte B.; Stein, Detlef; Courtney, Michael; Peña, Alfredo; Mikkelsen, Torben; Stickland, Matthew; Oldroyd, Andrew. 2013. "Hub Height Ocean Winds over the North Sea Observed by the NORSEWInD Lidar Array: Measuring Techniques, Quality Control and Data Management." Remote Sens. 5, no. 9: 4280-4303.
• Krishnamurthy, R., Choukulkar, A., Calhoun, R., Fine, J., Oliver, A. and Barr, K.S. (2013), Coherent Doppler lidar for wind farm characterization. Wind Energ., 16: 189-206. DOI: 10.1002/we.539
• M Sjöholm, T Mikkelsen, J Mann, K Enevoldsen and M Courtney, 2008: Time series analysis of continuous-wave coherent Doppler Lidar wind measurements. IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci., 1, 012051. DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/1/1/012051
• Pichugina, Yelena L., Robert M. Banta, W. Alan Brewer, Scott P. Sandberg, R. Michael Hardesty, 2012: Doppler Lidar-Based Wind-Profile Measurement System for Offshore Wind-Energy and Other Marine Boundary Layer Applications. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 51, 327-349.DOI: 10.1175/JAMC-D-11-040.1
• Pichugina, Yelena L., Sara C. Tucker, Robert M. Banta, W. Alan Brewer, Neil D. Kelley, Bonnie J. Jonkman, Rob K. Newsom, 2008: Horizontal-Velocity and Variance Measurements in the Stable Boundary Layer Using Doppler Lidar: Sensitivity to Averaging Procedures. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 25, 1307-1327. DOI: 10.1175/2008JTECHA988.1
• Smith DA, Harris M, Coffey AS, Mikkelsen T, Jørgensen HE, Mann J, Danielian R. Wind lidar evaluation at the Danish wind test site in Høvsøre. Wind Energy 2006; 9:87-93.