Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
I mean, the turbine locations have to take into account effects from the surrounding turbines, so they clearly affect wind patterns at least locally. How much it affects wind say 5 miles away is probably small, but I wonder if it's measurable over time, or calculable given a sophisticated model.
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In the mid- 1970s, Texas Tech University grad students were using the wind tunnel to quantify such data experimentally. I doubt that they were alone.
The Energy Research and Development Administration ERDA ) had already gone around the United States measuring wind and solar insolation values, and constructed pilot facilities, wind and solar.
Just like with automobiles, any turbulence produced by a turbine will dissipate and vanish at some separation distance, due to viscous attrition ( viscous shear ). Also, a turbines elevation above ground level tends to isolate its effects from surface winds.