Assessment of a balloon-borne buoy based measurement system with co-located tower and lidar measurements

摘要

The development of a balloon-borne buoy based measurement system which aims to find a more cost effective method to be able to characterize offshore winds is assessed. The buoy measurements taken are compared to meteorological tower and Galion lidar data. Data were collected from several field studies located in Iowa, New Mexico, and Texas throughout 2013 and 2014. A look at balloon-borne buoy based wind measurement system that were developed and used in this study will be explained. Findings show that wind speeds correlate well, while wind directions did not correlate as well. An algorithm developed to verify the heights at which the modules were flying at through use of the hypsometric equation will be examined. Spectral analysis is used on data taken during the February 10th field study in the Gulf of Mexico. The study provides an encouraging outlook on assessing offshore winds moving forward, by displaying the ability for the system to operate autonomously for a brief period of time in the Gulf.