An evaluation of different measurement strategies to measure wind turbine near wake flow with small multicopter UAS

Abstract

Wind turbine wake flow, especially in the near wake, that is up to one rotor diameter D downstream, is subject to interaction between tip vortices and ambient turbulence. These interactions are important to understand wake decay, but most difficult to measure with common instrumentation. Small uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) can help to measure at such locations where no masts can be installed. We contrast two measurement strategies, the hover flight with multiple UAS and cross-section flights with single UAS. We show that both strategies have advantages; the cross-section flights provide a full picture of the width and wind speed deficit across the rotor diameter whereas multi-UAS hover flights can provide more reliable turbulence intensity and turbulent flux measurements at specific locations. With both strategies, tip vortices can be detected and qualified to characterize the state of wake decay at different positions. A fit to the vortex models Lamb-Oseen and Burnham-Hallock allows to estimate circulation and core radius of the vortices. For best characterization of the wake, we recommend to combine the hover and cross-section flight strategies in future.