Spatiotemporal structure of wind farm-atmospheric boundary layer interactions

Observations and modelling studies show that wind farms can alter their local microclimate. This study examines the effect of real-world wind farms on land surface temperatures in West Central Texas using the Weather Research and Forecasting model under realistic boundary conditions. Three wind turbine parameterizations, including two developed in this study, are used for model sensitivity experiments. The simulated effects of wind farms on temperatures match the spatial patterns observed in satellite data but are weaker in magnitude. The magnitudes of the temperature changes depend on the power coefficients used in the parameterizations. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.