Insights into wind turbine reflectivity and radar cross-section (RCS) and their variability using X-band weather radar observations

Lainer, Martin; Figueras i Ventura, Jordi; Schauwecker, Zaira; Gabella, Marco; F.-Bolaños, Montserrat; Pauli, Reto; Grazioli, Jacopo

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3541-2021

Articles | Volume 14, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3541-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3541-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 5

Research article

|

18 May 2021

Research article |

| 18 May 2021

Insights into wind turbine reflectivity and radar cross-section (RCS) and their variability using X-band weather radar observations

Martin Lainer, Jordi Figueras i Ventura, Zaira Schauwecker, Marco Gabella, Montserrat F.-Bolaños, Reto Pauli, and Jacopo Grazioli

Model code and software

Pyrad: a Real-Time Weather Radar Data Processing Framework Based on Py-ART (https://github.com/MeteoSwiss/pyrad.git) J. Figueras i Ventura, M. Lainer, Z. Schauwecker, J. Grazioli, and U. Germann https://doi.org/10.5334/jors.330

Short summary

We show results from two unique measurement campaigns aimed at better understanding effects of large wind turbines on radar returns by deploying a mobile X-band weather radar system in the proximity of a small wind park. Measurements were taken in 24/7 operation with dedicated scan strategies to retrieve the variability and most extreme values of reflectivity and radar cross-section of the wind turbines. The findings are useful for wind turbine interference mitigation measures in radar systems.