How does LiDAR work for wind measurements?

Movelaser LiDARs
3 min readApr 5, 2022

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LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) devices by wind LiDAR manufacturers can measure the speed of prevailing winds before it collides with the blades of a lidar wind turbine. These preliminary wind observations can be employed in feedforward control systems aimed at lowering turbine pressures. However, the ability of such preview-based LiDAR wind profiler to lower loads by responding to turbulence is limited by the accuracy with which the wind field can be recorded.

A hub-mounted LIDAR examines a circle of locations prevailing winds of the turbine to determine the wind speed element in the mean direction of the wind in the LIDAR measurement scenario explored. The dimension of the scan circle and modified versions of the preview distance positioned upwind of the rotor were investigated. The identification of horizontal and vertical wind velocities from line-of-sight LIDAR measurements was shown to be the most common resource of measurement inaccuracy for short preview ranges.

To understand the wind measurement there is something about the wind turbine that is of the utmost important element of this whole project. A wind turbine is a mechanism that uses the kinetic energy of the wind to generate electricity. The blades of the turbine are rotated by the wind, and the turbine’s process can create energy as a result of this rotation. There are two types of wind turbines. Wind turbines with horizontal and vertical axes. They both have benefits and drawbacks, although horizontal axis machines are more popular because of their greater benefits.

Wind LiDAR experts will sometimes utilize the LiDAR method to measure the wind in front of operational turbines. The measurement instruments are mounted atop the turbines and use numerous laser beams to measure air motions up to a distance of many hundred meters in front of the rotor. The data is necessary to better place the turbines in the wind. Since the LiDAR-based monitoring system can dynamically react to strong winds and turbulence, they also assist in improving operations in terms of greater yields and decreased stress on the units.

At higher heights, Doppler LiDAR devices are utilized to accurately monitor air motions. The laser beams are sent into the sky by ground-based measuring instruments. These beams collide with airborne particles and aerosols, causing the light to be reflected. This period can be used to compute measurement heights. The Doppler shift, which induces the movement of scattering particles, allows the devices to detect wind speeds and direction.

All of the measures by movelasers technology solutions are based on years of experience, competence, and utmost vigilance as a recognized testing laboratory. This applies to a wide range of locations across the world and a variety of measuring devices. Our lidars are all calibrated in our fully approved in-house laboratories. This allows us to keep delivery times shorter and respond quickly to your needs. Wind measuring principles, independent design, and hundreds of projects’ worth of expertise assure an accurate measurement method and flawless results.

Lidars have several benefits, one of which is their portability. A lidar was verified against a nearby tower in one of our projects, and then relocated every couple of months to encompass a vast region. This information might subsequently be utilized in power density assessment calculations for the projected wind farm to reduce the horizontal extension risk of wind modeling.

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Movelaser LiDARs
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The LiDAR technology and core R&D were from Shanghai Institute of Optics and Mechanics (SIOM) https://movelasers.com