Simulation of Spatially Distributed Turbulence Measurements with UAV in Three-dimensional LES Windfields

Abstract

There is a huge demand for renewable energy production nowadays, as CO2 emissions should be decreased due to the increasing price of fossil fuels. There is an especially promising branch of renewable energy production, which is wind energy. Wind energy production is a mature technology, and it is now facing a big spread around the world. However, it still has some difficulties regarding the efficiency and amount of energy that can be produced. One way to scale up the energy production is to increase the size of the wind turbines. However, this requires stronger structures that can withstand the loads from the atmospheric winds. The other problem is the efficiency of the wind turbines and wind turbine farms. Efficiency can be increased with a better understanding of the winds around and across the wind turbines. Therefore, both problems are connected to understanding the behaviour of the wind. The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) needs to be investigated to better understand the behaviour of winds because the turbulence inside the ABL will affect the wind turbines’ loads and efficiency. For this purpose, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be deployed to carry out boundary layer measurements. However, precise measurements are needed to investigate the highly dynamic processes inside the turbulent boundary layer. Based on ABL simulation data, this work quantifies the uncertainties behind a UAV fleet measurement in different scenarios