AEROSTAT SURVEYS’ INNOVATIVE RADAR IMPACT SOLUTION
New start-up business venture Aerostat Surveys has come up with an innovative approach that could unblock many wind turbine applications held-up due to concerns over radar impact issues.
This new approach is the brainchild of former CAA and QinetiQ chartered engineer, Adrian Clough, who has been involved with assessing the impact of wind turbines on aviation systems since the issue first emerged 10 years ago.
The idea was born out of the need to find a more accurate way of determining impact of wind turbines that is independent and not subject to uncertainty.
THE BACKGROUND Adrian explained that until now, radar impact assessments have been performed using computer-based propagation models that take account of the radar system components, the wind turbine structure and the terrain profile along the intervening propagation path.
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Whilst many such models have been validated, they are only as good as the input parameters they are fed. In practice, the radar may produce a different amount of power than assumed in the direction of the turbine, and the path loss may be higher than calculated as a result of buildings, vegetation and other ‘clutter’ that is not captured in the electronic model of the world.
UNCERTAINTY By definition therefore, computer modelling introduces a level of uncertainly, which is neither in the interest of the airport/radar operator nor the wind turbine developer.
SOLUTION To overcome this, Aerostat Surveys has developed a system capable of measuring the strength of radar signals at various heights immediately above the proposed wind turbine site.
Explained Adrian: “Our equipment allows the system losses between the radar transmitter and the point-in-space where they would meet the wind turbine structure to be determined. Accurately knowing this allows better quantification of any effects such as reflections and shadowing etc. Furthermore, thanks to the laws of physics, system losses will be identical in the opposite direction, and therefore we can accurately predict the strength of any reflections finding their way back to the radar receiver.
“Another benefit of this approach is that where an impact is shown to exist, it is easy to play a number of ‘what-if’ scenarios with turbine height, position and construction materials. We suspect that many sites that have previously been refused due to radar impact issues could turn out to be acceptable using this approach. We can also use the system in a similar way to assess the impact on navigation aids.
He concluded: “To make measurements in the sky, we use a tethered helium balloon capable of operating at heights of up to 500 ft above ground level. Along with the radar/navigation signals being measured, the balloon constantly provides GPS data on its position and barometric altitude. As well as being stable and reliable, the helium balloon’s operating costs are a fraction that of an aeroplane or helicopter.”
Aerostat Surveys
www.aerostat.co.uk
e = See enhanced entry online 08
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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