Wind farms (WFs) are believed to have an impact on lower boundary layer meteorology. A recent study examined satellite-measured land surface temperature data (LST) and found a local nighttime warming effect attributable to a group of four large WFs in Texas. This study furthers their work by investigating the impacts of five individual WFs in Iowa, where the land surface properties and climate conditions are different from those in Texas. Two methods are used to assess WF impacts: first, compare the spatial coupling between the LST changes (after turbine construction versus before) and the geographic layouts of the WFs; second, quantify the LST difference between the WFs and their immediate surroundings (non-WF areas). Each WF shows an irrefutable nighttime warming signal relative to the surrounding areas after their turbines were installed, and these warming signals are generally coupled with the geographic layouts of the wind turbines, especially in summer. This study provides further observational evidence that WFs can cause surface warming at nighttime, and that such a signal can be detected by satellite-based sensors.

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This paper assesses impacts of three wind farms in northern Illinois using land surface temperature (LST) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites for the period 2003–2013. Changes in LST between two periods (before and after construction of the wind turbines) and between wind farm pixels and nearby non-wind-farm pixels are quantified. An areal mean increase in LST by 0.18–0.39 °C is observed at nighttime over the wind farms, with the geographic distribution of this warming effect generally spatially coupled with the layout of the wind turbines (referred to as the spatial coupling), while there is no apparent impact on daytime LST. The nighttime LST warming effect varies with seasons, with the strongest warming in winter months of December-February, and the tightest spatial coupling in summer months of June-August. Analysis of seasonal variations in wind speed and direction from weather balloon sounding data and Automated Surface Observing System hourly observations from nearby stations suggest stronger winds correspond to seasons with greater warming and larger downwind impacts. The early morning soundings in Illinois are representative of the nighttime boundary layer and exhibit strong temperature inversions across all seasons. The strong and relatively shallow inversion in summer leaves warm air readily available to be mixed down and spatially well coupled with the turbine. Although the warming effect is strongest in winter, the spatial coupling is more erratic and spread out than in summer. These results suggest that the observed warming signal at nighttime is likely due to the net downward transport of heat from warmer air aloft to the surface, caused by the turbulent mixing in the wakes of the spinning turbine rotor blades.

Low-level jets (LLJ) around the world critically support the food, water, and energy security in regions that they traverse. For the purposes of development planning and weather and climate prediction, it is important to improve understanding of how LLJs interact with the land surface and upper-atmospheric flow, and collectively, how LLJs have and may change over time. This study details the development and application of a new automated, dynamical objective classification of upper-atmospheric jet stream coupling based on a merging of the Bonner–Whiteman vertical wind shear classification and the finite-amplitude local wave activity diagnostic. The classification approach is transferable globally, but applied here only for the Great Plains (GP) LLJ (GPLLJ). The analysis spans the period from 1901 to 2010, enabled by the ECMWF climate-quality, coupled Earth reanalysis of the twentieth century. Overall, statistically significant declines in total GPLLJ event frequency over the twentieth century are detected across the entire GP corridor and attributed to declines in uncoupled GPLLJ frequency. Composites of lower- and upper-atmospheric flow are shown to capture major differences in the climatological, coupled GPLLJ, and uncoupled GPLLJ synoptic environments. Detailed analyses for southern, central, and northern GP subregions further highlight synoptic differences between weak and strong GPLLJs and provide quantification of correlations between total, coupled, and uncoupled GPLLJ frequencies and relevant atmospheric anomalies. Because uncoupled GPLLJs tend to be associated with decreased precipitation and low-level wind speed and enhanced U.S. ridge strength, this finding may suggest that support for drought over the twentieth century has waned.