Wake structure measurements at the MOD-2 cluster test facilty at goodnoe hills, Washington

A field measurement programme was carried out at the cluster of three MOD-2 wind turbines located at Goodnoe Hills, Washington, to determine the rate of decay of wake velocity deficit with down-wind distance in various meteorological conditions. Measurements were taken at hub height (60 m). Wake wind speeds were measured using a radiosonde suspended from a tethered balloon, its position being determined from a grid of ground stakes. Instantaneous readings were recorded by each system every two seconds and averaged over ten-minute periods. As a control experiment, the sonde was also operated next to the meteorological tower to calibrate the instrumentation. Measurements were also made down wind with the turbine off to determine the magnitude of terrain-induced variations in wind speed. Downstream distances of 274.3, 457.2, 640.1 and 823.0 m from the turbine, corresponding to 3, 5, 7 and 9 rotor diameters D, were investigated. There was considerable scatter in the observed 10min average downstream/free-stream velocity ratios. Turbine-on velocity ratios showed even greater scatter, suggesting that only some measurements were, in fact, representative of wake centre-line velocities, and that others were made off centre line due to wake meander or wind shift. Isolation of the high wind speed (13.4 to 20.1 m/s) velocity ratios, however, revealed velocity deficits of up to about 50% at 3D and 5% at 5D downstream. Measurements at greater downstream distances showed no wake deficit within the limits of resolution of the experiment, indicating that the wake had recovered to free-stream conditions.