Round-Robin Validation of Spatial Wind Modeling at a Site with a Large Number of Towers
12 Sep 18
3:30 PM
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4:45 PM
Tracks:
Wind Flow Modeling
Several recent studies have compared the relative performance of different classes of spatial wind modeling techniques. These classes usually include linear flow models, computational fluid dynamics models, and numerical weather prediction models (usually downscaled with a simpler mass conserving microscale model). Using a unique dataset with a large number (> 15) of met towers across a tropical site of moderately complex terrain, we revisit this intercomparison of modeling approaches. The goal is to model the wind field using only information provided at a subset of the met masts. Then predict the wind speed at towers that were withheld from the modeling and examine the errors at those locations. Furthermore, we explore not just the results of the intercomparison, but also the underlying reasons why these three fundamentally different approaches perform differently.