Reconstructing turbulent wind-fields using inverse-distance-weighting interpolation and measurements from a pulsed mounted-hub lidar

Abstract

This study evaluates a numerical multi-beam pulsed lidar mounted on the hub of the NREL 5MW reference wind turbine using the HAWC2 v13.1 numerical sensor for synthetic lidar measurement generation. While initially designed for single-beam operations, it facilitates multi-beam configuration simulations. We conducted an analysis of full-rotor longitudinal wind speed reconstruction by combining inverse-distance-weighting with synthetic sensor data from HAWC2. Utilizing a Mann-generated turbulence box for wind input at U = 11.4 m/s, we examined three lidar configurations for efficacy. The hub-mounted lidar proved efficient in capturing the incoming flow towards the turbine, showing a 60% improvement in overall reconstruction accuracy across the plane compared to the baseline, where hublidar measurements are simple average across the rotor plane. The rotor average wind speed showed a 30% enhancement compared to the baseline. Crucially, the lidar configuration, which impacted the spatial distribution across the rotor plane, emerged as a pivotal factor for effective reconstruction. Proper configuration assessment is essential, especially given the implications of rotational sampling and its impact under various wind conditions, for optimal performance. The proposed method, combining inverse-distance weighting with hub-lidar data for high spatial resolution measurements across the rotor plane, shows significant potential for real-time windflow estimation and lidar-assisted control applications.