Digitalization of scanning lidar measurement campaign planning

Abstract

By using multiple wind measurements when designing wind farms, it is possible to decrease the uncertainty of wind farm energy assessments since the extrapolation distance between measurements and wind turbine locations is reduced. A WindScanner system consisting of two synchronized scanning lidars potentially represents a cost-effective solution for multipoint measurements, especially in complex terrain. However, the system limitations and limitations imposed by the wind farm site are detrimental to the installation of scanning lidars and the number and location of the measurement points. To simplify the process of finding suitable measurement positions and associated installation locations for the WindScanner system, we have devised a campaign planning workflow. The workflow consists of four phases. In the first phase, based on a preliminary wind farm layout, we generate optimum measurement positions using a greedy algorithm and a measurement “representative radius”. In the second phase, we create several Geographical Information System (GIS) layers such as exclusion zones, line-of-sight (LOS) blockage and lidar range constraint maps. These GIS layers are then used in the third phase to find optimum positions of the WindScanner systems with respect to the measurement positions considering the WindScanner measurement uncertainty and logistical constraints. In the fourth phase, we optimize and generate a trajectory through the measurement positions by applying the traveling salesman problem (TSP) on these positions. The described workflow has been digitalized into a Python package named campaign-planning-tool, which gives users an effective way to design measurement campaigns with WindScanner systems. In this study, the Python package has been tested on three different sites characterized by different terrain complexity and wind farm dimensions and layouts. With minimal effort, the Python package can optimize measurement positions and suggest possible lidar installation locations for carrying out resource assessment campaigns.