Description
Wind turbines are increasingly installed in typhoon-affected areas in Asia. However, the research on wind farm impacts on typhoons and vice-versa is limited. Few studies (e.g. Pan et al. 2018 and Lee et al. 2022) based on atmosphere-only mesoscale model simulations suggest an impact of offshore wind farms on typhoon-related precipitation and wind speed. However, it has been shown that waves affect hub height winds and that wind farm wakes additionally modify atmosphere-wave interactions (Fischereit et al. 2022). In addition, atmosphere-wave coupling affects the magnitude and path of tropical cyclones (e.g. Pant et al. 2020). Hence, in this study, we investigate numerically the influence of wind-wave interactions and wind farm on a Typhoon development.We employ the Typhoon Megi as a case study (Müller et al. 2022). Megi is a category 5 cyclone that hit Taiwan during late September 2016. For the numerical experiments we use the Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport Modeling System (COAWST; Warner et al. 2008, 2010) equipped with the Wave Boundary Layer Model (WBLM; Du et al. 2017, 2019). The WBLM ensures that the exchange between the atmospheric model WRF (Weather, Research and Forecasting model) and the wave model SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore model) are flux and energy consistent.
We perform simulations of different complexity by activating individual components of the modeling system: We compare atmosphere-wave coupled simulations with uncoupled atmosphere-only simulations and include scenarios with and without wind farms. In the scenarios with wind farms, we take both existing and planned future wind farms into account. We apply two different wind farm parameterizations: the WFP by Fitch et al. (2012) (FITCH) and the Explicit Wake Parameterization (EWP) by Volker et al. (2015). We vary the wind farm layouts and turbine types of future farms to derive the sensitivity of the simulation results to these wind farm characteristics.
First results show that wind-wave interactions as well as wind farms (Figure 1) influence the intensity and track (Figure 2) of the simulated Typhoon. Those results along with the sensitivity to the chosen wind farm parameterization and wind farm characteristics will be discussed.
| Period | 26 May 2023 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Wind Energy Science Conference |
| Event type | Conference |
| Conference number | 4 |
| Location | Glasgow, United KingdomShow on map |