Measurements of Wind and Turbulence Profiles With Scanning Doppler Lidar for Wind Energy Applications

High-quality profiles of mean and turbulent statistics of the wind field upstream of a wind farm can be produced using a scanning Doppler lidar. Careful corrections for the spatial filtering of the wind field by the lidar pulse produce turbulence estimates equivalent to point sensors but with the added advantage of a larger sampling volume to increase the statistical accuracy of the estimates. For a well-designed lidar system, this permits accurate estimates of the key turbulent statistics over various sub-domains and with sufficiently short observation times to monitor rapid changes in conditions. These features may be ideally suited for optimal operation of wind farms and also for improved resource assessment of potential sites.