Simplified model for calculation of clutters caused by wind turbines

Abstract

Abstract. Several methodological attempts were made to assess the potential impact of a planned wind turbines on the operational work of weather radar. International recommendations for co-location have been established and incorporated in many countries. The main point of these recommendations states that the location of a wind turbine any part of which reaches RLOS (Radar Line Of Sight) requires the analysis of its impact on radar performance.The growing number of applications for the technical assessment of planned wind farms demand the use of a simple method of calculation for the first step of the authorization process.A typical wind turbine consists of several metallic parts. Based on the assumption that only moving, metallic parts of a turbine cause echoes indelible by standard filtering used in radar signal preprocessing, a method of preliminary evaluation of such maximum potential clutters was developed. The method takes into account how great a part of a turbine is really illuminated by a radar beam and for this part calculates a RCS (Radar Cross Section) and its equivalent radar reflectivity. A very detailed description of the model is given in this article in order for it to be easy to implement in any calculation system. Discussion of the influence of the main simplifications assumed in this model, as well as a comparison of the theoretical results with example data in operational mode of radar work, are included in this article.

Key Issues on the Design of an Offshore Wind Farm Layout and Its Equivalent Model

“…The most efficient method for simulating a large wind farm uses an equivalent wind farm to reduce complexity and simulation time [56,57]. Equivalent methods for simulating wind farms typically involve a single-machine model or a multi-machine model; however, to reflect actual operating conditions, most equivalent methods use multi-machine models [58][59][60]. Based on the variation of wind speed among turbines, the single-machine representation method can be further classified as using a "1+1" model (one wind turbine with one generator) or an "n+1" model (n wind turbines with one generator).…”