Brief communication: A simple axial induction modification to the Weather Research and Forecasting Fitch wind farm parameterization

Abstract

Abstract. We propose a modification to the Fitch wind farm parameterization implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. This modification, derived from 1D momentum theory, employs a wind-speed-dependent induction factor to correct the local grid wind speed back to freestream before computing the turbine's power and thrust. While the original implementation underestimates power, the modified version shows good agreement with the power curve. We strongly recommend employing the modification for all studies that model at maximum one turbine per WRF grid cell. For simulations with more turbines per grid cell, additional inner-cell wake losses have to be considered.