Application of Remote Sensing in Wind Resource Assessment

Abstract

The understanding of wind characteristics plays a significant role in the structural design of wind turbine and economic assessment of wind farm project. This study presents an application of remote sensing techniques system for the assessment of wind characteristics. This study also shows a case study conducted at an onshore site in Tamil Nadu, India. The reliability of the wind SODAR measurement was firstly examined by comparing from cup-anemometer installed on a nearby meteorological mast. The wind speed is statistically analyzed by means of Weibull distribution function and results were used to compute several characteristics parameters related to wind energy applications and no significant discrepancies were observed. The characteristics of wind shear coefficient were evaluated for different altitudes. The vertical profile of wind speed measured from SODAR system was compared with existing models. Furthermore, the turbulence characteristics were analyzed and compared along with the turbulence intensity. The turbulence intensity initially decreases then after reaching certain heights it starts increasing. This study also discusses the application of this advance technology in mitigating green house gas emission and reducing carbon footprint effectively. From the economic point of view the SODAR system was found to be cost-effective at higher heights. The results of this study are expected to provide useful information for the deployment of remote sensing instruments for wind energy development in India.