Autonomous Aerial Sensors for Wind Power Meteorology

UPDATE: Flight week has just ended in Nøjsomheds Odde, on Lolland. See a description of the LTA system here. At DONGs wind farm in Nøjsomhed, we were assisted by the local organiser, IWAL. Due to unfortunate accidents, we were only two teams: Risø DTU furnishing a Lidar and the LTA system, including the nanosync data acquisition system and the main developer at DELTA, and the University of Bergen group flying three SUMOs, including one with a 100Hz turbulence probe.

ABSTRACT: This PSO funded project (flyer, paper) investigates a new approach for measurements in wind power meteorology using small unmanned flying platforms. During a week of flying a lighter-than-air vehicle, two small electrically powered aeroplanes and a larger helicopter at the Risø test station at Høvsøre, we intended to compare wind speed measurements with fixed mast and LIDAR measurements, investigate optimal flight patterns for each measurement task, and measure other interesting meteorological features like the air-sea boundary in the vicinity of the wind farm. However, for legal reasons we could not fly at Høvsøre, so we were airborne at Nøjsomheds Odde in May, 2011. Since multiple teams could not participate in this session, we will have a second flight week at Risø in the summer. In order to prepare the measurement campaign, a workshop was held on 12 July 2010, soliciting input from various communities.
 
If successful, the planes could be used in such diverse areas as the investigation of turbulence structure in wakes, for work on the comparison between line measurements and fixed measurement relating to Taylor's Hypothesis, for more general meteorology like the investigation of the air-sea boundary, the top of the boundary layer or the night-time stability structure. Additional services for the wind power industry could include inspection of wings or other difficult to access parts.
We authored a paper for EWEC 2011 with a lot of background and ideas - please find it here.		  The SkyDoc tethered Lighter-Than-Air system.
This project assembles four different UAVs from four participating groups. Risø will build a lighter-than-air kite with a long tether, Bergen University flies a derivative of the Funjet, a pusher airplane of 580g total weight, the University of Tübingen in conjunction with TU Braunschweig flies the M2AV (Meteorological Mini Aerial Vehicle), a 2m wide two prop model Carolo plane with a pitot tube on the nose, and Aalborg University will use a helicopter equipped with a sonic anemometer. All those platforms will be flown during one week, probably at the Danish national test station for large wind turbines at Høvsøre. The site is strongly instrumented, with 6 masts above 100m height, one even reaching up to 167m. The comparison of wind speed measurements from planes and fixed masts should give an indication of the accuracy of the measured wind field. The SUMO employed by Uni Bergen in Spitzbergen.
On July 12, 2010, we organised a workshop as preparation for the flights later this year. We would like to get input on three main topics: wind speed measurements, wind power meteorological questions and flight related issues. The Vario XLC helicopter employed by Aalborg University (without sensors yet).
 The project is funded by Energinet.dk, under the Public Service Obligation initiative (PSO Project nr. 2009-1-10268).  The MMAV used by Uni Tübingen and TU Braunschweig, here near the mast at Lindenberg.

 

Page updated  by   13.05.2011


Gregor Giebel
Senior Scientist
Wind Energy (VEA)
Dir tel+45 46775095


Uwe Schmidt Paulsen
Senior Scientist
Wind Energy (VEA)
Dir tel+45 46775044