Lidar and resource assessment for wind power applications: the state of the art

摘要

Lidar has in recent years matured into a reliable and versatile technology for remotely measuring wind speeds at all heights across the rotor diameter. A laser beam is used to acquire the radial wind velocity in a number of directions at a given height from the Doppler shift of the backscattered light. From this the wind velocity at that height can be derived. Lidar allows wind flow model validation. Deployment of a Lidar to sites where different runs of modeling have produced divergent results can help select which input parameter set is most useful for characterizing wind flow, by taking measurements that allow differentiation between models. The cost of data acquisition for offshore wind resource assessment can be reduced by adopting Lidar methods. Less stringent specifications are imposed for platform installation, and approaches that dispense with the need for a platform are being developed. Operational turbine performance monitoring can be helpfully augmented by using Lidar to obtain data describing the wind flow impinging upon a turbine or in its wake. Lidar is also useful in obtaining details of wind shear, turbulence, vertical inflow and wind veer at proposed and operational turbine locations. Some of the uses Lidar has been applied to, some of its limitations, and the developing role Lidar will grow into in the future of wind resource assessment, are reviewed here.