Affiliation:
1. Department of Ocean Resources and Engineering, The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology The University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Honolulu Hawai'i USA
2. Ocean Processes Analysis Laboratory The University of New Hampshire Durham New Hampshire USA
3. Applied Physics Laboratory The University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
4. Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS) Univ. Brest, CNRS, IRD, Ifremer, IUEM Bretagne France
Abstract
ABSTRACTMeasuring boundary layer stratification, wind shear, and turbulence remains challenging for wind resource assessment. In particular, larger eddy scales have the greatest impact on turbine load fluctuations, and there are few in situ methods to observe them adequately. Satellite remote sensing using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an alternative approach. In this study, eddy‐related signatures in 704 high‐resolution images are related to stratification through a bulk Richardson number () measured by a buoy near Martha's Vineyard, the US epicenter of offshore wind. Variations in SAR‐observed atmospheric boundary layer eddies, or lack of them, correspond to specific regimes. Accounting for strong vertical wind shear, typically under stable stratification, is critical for energy production and turbine loads, and SAR directly identifies these conditions by the absence of energetic eddies. SAR also provides a regional climatology of atmospheric stratification for offshore wind assessment, complementing other observations, and with potential application worldwide.
Funder
European Space Agency
National Science Foundation
National Aeronautics and Space Administration