Articles | Volume 24, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-4473-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-4473-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
10 Dec 2024
Research article |
| 10 Dec 2024
| 10 Dec 2024
How well are hazards associated with derechos reproduced in regional climate simulations?
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
Frederick Letson
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
Rebecca J. Barthelmie
Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
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Low-level jets (LLJs) are pronounced maxima in wind speed profiles affecting wind turbine performance and longevity. We present a climatology of LLJs over Iowa using output from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and determine the rotor plane conditions when they occur. LLJ characteristics are highly sensitive to the identification criteria applied, and different (unique) LLJs are extracted with each criterion. LLJ characteristics also vary with different model output resolution.
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Wind turbines in offshore lease areas (LA) along the eastern U.S. may be impacted by hurricanes. Regional simulations with atmosphere-only and coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave regional models well reproduce historical hurricanes and indicate no exceedance of 50 m s-1 wind speeds in the LA and only brief periods with low power production. Coupled simulations lead to more intense hurricanes possibly indicating that previous atmosphere-only simulations underestimate the risk to offshore wind turbines.
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Using lidar-derived wind speed measurements at approx. 150 m height at onshore and offshore locations, we quantify the advantages of deploying wind turbines offshore in terms of the amount of electrical power produced and the higher reliability and predictability of the electrical power.
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Low-level jets (LLJs) are special types of non-ideal wind profiles affecting both wind energy production and loads on a wind turbine. However, among LLJ researchers, there is no consensus regarding which definition to use to identify these profiles. In this work, we compare two different ways of identifying the LLJ – the falloff definition and the shear definition – and argue why the shear definition is better suited to wind energy applications.
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Low-level jets (LLJs) are pronounced maxima in wind speed profiles affecting wind turbine performance and longevity. We present a climatology of LLJs over Iowa using output from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and determine the rotor plane conditions when they occur. LLJ characteristics are highly sensitive to the identification criteria applied, and different (unique) LLJs are extracted with each criterion. LLJ characteristics also vary with different model output resolution.
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Windstorms during the last 40 years in the US Northeast are identified and characterized using the spatial extent of extreme wind speeds at 100 m height from the ERA5 reanalysis. During all of the top 10 windstorms, wind speeds exceeding the local 99.9th percentile cover at least one-third of the land area in this high-population-density region. These 10 storms followed frequently observed cyclone tracks but have intensities 5–10 times the mean values for cyclones affecting this region.
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Short summary
A historic derecho in the USA is presented. The 29 June 2012 derecho caused more than 20 deaths and millions of US dollars of damage. We use a regional climate model to understand how model fidelity changes under different initial conditions. We find changes drive different convective conditions, resulting in large variation in the simulated hazards. The variation using different reanalysis data shows that framing these results in the context of contemporary and future climate is a challenge.
A historic derecho in the USA is presented. The 29 June 2012 derecho caused more than 20 deaths...
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