Resolving three-dimensional wind velocity fields in complex terrain using sequential wind-Doppler LiDAR, CFD and wind...

Background Understanding the effects of complex terrain on wind turbines in alpine regions requires high-resolution computational modelling accompanied by detailed wind observations. In technologically advanced measurement campaigns, often multiple synchronised wind-Doppler LiDARs are deployed to overcome the limitation of these instruments to only measure line-of-sight velocity. Methods In this work, a novel deployment method, a sequential wind-Doppler LiDAR deployment is introduced. We present the example of a field campaign on the Gotthard Pass, a narrow north-south permutated high-mountain pass in the central Swiss Alps. We propose a matching algorithm that can robustly group wind profiles, enabling comparable scientific detail to study turbine efficiency as in synchronised triple LiDAR campaigns, whilst only requiring a single LiDAR instrument to be deployed. Results In the three-month study period in the summer of 2023, we successfully used turbulence kinetic energy, wind shear and veer, as well as wind channelling to explain turbine power production discrepancies observed in the five turbines erected on a mountain pass.