Light detection and ranging measurements of wake dynamics part I: one‐dimensional scanning

The vast majority of wind turbines are today erected in wind farms. As a consequence, wake‐generated loads are becoming more and more important. In this first of two parts, we present a new experimental technique to measure the instantaneous wake deficit directly, thus allowing for quantification of the wake meandering, as well as the instantaneous wake expansion expressed in a meandering frame of reference. The experiment was conducted primarily to test the simple hypothesis that the wake deficit is advected passively by the larger‐than‐rotor‐size eddies in the atmospheric flow, and that the wake at the same time widens gradually, primarily because of mixing caused by small‐scale atmospheric eddies. In this first paper, we focus on our new measurement technique, and test if the wake meandering follows the wind direction fluctuations, i.e. if it is advected passively in the lateral direction. The experimental results are used as a preliminary verification of a wake meandering model that essentially considers the wake as a passive tracer. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.