Investigation of Vertical Wind Shear Characteristics Using 50m Meteorological Tower Data

Wind measurement is important for estimating wind energy potential, but it is relatively cost-intensive and often conducted at a narrow height from the ground level. The typical range of most turbine hub heights is from 30-50 m or even higher. Extrapolation on wind data thus becomes necessary to estimate the wind speed at different heights. Doing so requires the essential understanding of wind shear characteristics representative to a location or a region. The analysis is carried out from the vertical profile of meteorological observation collected from 50 m tower at Sathyabama University during the period of 2010-2014. The tower is located near the coastal region in Chennai. The tower is equipped with instruments to measure several meteorological variables. For wind speed and direction, they are routinely measured at different heights, which are considered well suitable for wind shear characterization. In this work, the characteristics of wind shear exponent at the tower were investigated and discussed, with emphasis on temporal (diurnal and monthly) variation and spatial distribution.