On the Stability of Coupled Mesoscale-Microscale Simulations: A Case Study in the Southern Great Plains Region
Storm Mata, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The size of utility-scale wind turbines has grown rapidly in the previous 20 years. This growth has brought with it new challenges in understanding and modeling the effect of atmospheric conditions on turbine power production. As turbines extend farther into the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), they may experience more complex and severe wind conditions. Modeling these complex ABL conditions in sufficient detail at the turbine scale is challenging because it requires coupling of large-scale atmospheric forcings with microscale dynamics (e.g., turbulent transport) that affect turbine performance. The process of coupling meso and microscale simulations spans the terra incognita wherein spurious phenomena may develop due to instabilities in subgrid models that partially resolve the boundary layer in this region. We provide in this case study an analysis of the stability of mesoscale-microscale coupling techniques using validation with empirical data collected at the American Wake Experiment (AWAKEN).