Open AccessImpact of snow on sound propagating from wind turbines
Author(s) -
Conrady Kristina,
Sjöblom Anna,
Larsson Conny
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
wind energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1099-1824
pISSN - 1095-4244
DOI - 10.1002/we.2254
Subject(s) - snow , sound (geography) , environmental science , sound propagation , meteorology , wind speed , atmospheric sciences , geology , acoustics , geography , oceanography , physics
The impact of snow on sound propagating from a wind farm in northern Sweden has been investigated. Simultaneous acoustic and meteorological measurements, combined with daily snow observations, have been analysed for the snow season in 2013 to 2014. Such measurements are crucial since significant knowledge gaps exist, especially for conditions in cold climates, in the implementation of atmospheric boundary layer complexity in sound propagation models. The effect of snow on sound propagation is shown to be dependent on the snow quality. Moreover, snow on trees (upplega) also has an influence on sound propagation. Compared with conditions without snow on trees, the average sound level is approximately 2 dBA lower. The effect is more distinct for higher frequencies compared with lower frequencies.