Wind Profile Measurements with VisibleWind: Further Developments

1. Wind Profile Measurements with VisibleWind: Further Developments Tom Wilkerson, Alan Marchant, Bill Bradford, Tom Apedaile, Cordell Wright & Eve Day Space Dynamics Laboratory, Utah State University 1695 North Research Park Way North Logan, UT 84341-1947 presentation for Lidar Working Group Meeting Wintergreen, VA June 16 - 19, 2009 Research support by USDA and USTAR /CASI program (Center for Advanced Sensing and Imaging, Utah Science Technology and Research)

2. DESTIN (Feb.2009) Presentation Micro-retroreflectors & Mounting on Balloons (A. Marchant) Nikon rangefinder & Total Station surveyor (W. Bradford) W. Bradford

3. Details of flight, October 30, 2009: Encounters strong vertical air motion Flight #8

4. DESTIN (Feb.2009) “Inexpensive, Rapid Response System for Wind Profile Assessment, including Shear Layer Determination and Wind Turbine Location” • A rough-and-ready experiment using available components • Goals: • Explore feasibility of getting useful wind profiles • Define pathway to higher level results • Assess value for science / engineering • Philosophy of original experiment : DIE-HAV-A-COW • (“Does It Even Have AChance Of Working ?”) • It did work, and has improved with new tracker VisibleWind II • This presentation is the next chapter, and was supported by the Space Dynamics Laboratory and the CASI program of USTAR at Utah State University

5. VisibleWind I: Tests during Winter Inversion in Cache Valley, UT Preliminary wind comparisons : Sodar and UAV/GPS-IMU 3D Balloon trajectories N W

6. Altitude-Time Records of Sensor Comparisons Sodar output (blue) every 5 min/50 meters Balloon trajectories (green) ascent 0.5 meters/sec UAV (red) locations

7. Example of Direction, Velocity, and Shear Profiles (VisibleWind I) N Direction (deg) Horizontal velocity (m/s) Shear (1/s)

8. VisibleWind Winter Inversion in Cache Valley, UT – Feb.13,2009 Direction Direction & Velocity

9. CJ: Sensor Data Located in Altitude-Time-Wind Direction Cube Explore for self consistency in CJ multi-sensor data Feb. 13/09 (MatLab time)

10. Optimum Cube “Rotation”Adjustments for Data Consistency Direction Velocity Conclusions: - Sodar data highly averaged in time and altitude, at best. - Balloon profiles more representative of variations, but still need much higher resolution in time and along trajectory.

11. VisibleWind II

12. Trajectories with New Balloon Tracker: XL-200, “VisibleWind II” Digital time-records of range, elevation, azimuth : “plan view” Flight 4: 236 obs. @ 6 sec (avg.) N E

14. Wind Properties, June 4, 09 North Logan UT VisibleWind II Direction N S Horiz. Velocity m/s H: Comp. Shear 1/s H: Shear 1/s 0

15. Extending VisibleWind II to Complex Terrain Applications * Maximum Range obs. 2200 meters West wind profiles lofted and guided by terrain elevation

16. Cache Valley (4500 ft.) defined by two mountain ranges above 9000 ft., and home to variety of inversions and canyon winds

17. Winds above Rising Terrain (Altitude above Terrain) Operations up to 1500 meters now routine # 3 Alt. # 5 N Direction Velocity Shear

18. Summary What: Low altitude wind profiles measured with balloon tracking How: New Laser Range Finder keyed to Elevation/Azimuth/Time records Why: Atmospheric transport (USDA aerosol LIDAR project) Calibration of other wind sensors Wind prospecting: Turbine life vs. wind variability & shear (200 m) Basis: Small balloons respond rapidly to wind, free of oscillation effects Prototype experiment easy to set up & operate Clear path to greater automation & better data Results: Trajectories to 2200m range, 1500m altitude Nighttime tracking (initially 400m range with single LED) Method ideal for probing at operating altitudes of wind turbines Method easily probes horizontal wind vector in 3D Data: Low speed winds up to 7 m/s Prominent shear layers Diurnal wind patterns confirmed Terrain effects SODAR tests Next: Improve time resolution and data rate Stronger winds, day-vs.-night, & terrain Field trials with other sensors (LIDAR, SODAR)