NDLI: An assessment of offshore wind turbine visibility in the United Kingdom

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	Sullivan, R.G. Cothren, J. Winters, S.L. Cooper, C. Ball, D.
Copyright Year	2012
Description	Author affiliation: Center for Adv. Spatial Technol., Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA (Cothren, J.; Winters, S.L.; Cooper, C.) \|\| Environ. Sci. Div., Argonne Nat. Lab., Argonne, IL, USA (Sullivan, R.G.) \|\| U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bur. of Ocean Energy Manage., Camarillo, CA, USA (Ball, D.)
Abstract	The potential visual impact of offshore wind facilities on coastal lands has emerged as a major concern for the siting and future development of these facilities in Europe and the United States. The visibility and visual contrast of offshore wind facilities depend on complex interactions among facility size, turbine size and color, distance from shore, lighting, and weather and atmospheric conditions, as well as other factors that affect overall visibility. However, little systemic study of visibility and visual contrast of offshore wind facilities in real seascape settings has been conducted. As a result, there is uncertainty about the potential effects of offshore wind facilities on sensitive visual resource areas in coastal regions, such as national seashores, historic sites, and trail corridors. As part of a research study sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an assessment of the visibility and visual contrast of 11 utility-scale offshore wind facilities was conducted in the United Kingdom in August and September of 2011. The observed facilities ranged from 25 to 140 turbines and were located within 5.5-52.0 km (3.4-32.3 mi) of 29 coastal viewpoints. Turbine power output ranged from 2.0 to 5.0 MW, with blade tip heights ranging from 113.5 to 153 m (372 to 502 ft). Study objectives included identifying the maximum distances at which the facilities could be seen from the coastal viewpoints in both daytime and night-time views and assessing the effect of distance on the degree of visual contrast associated with the facilities. Observers included a landscape architect, a geospatial visualization developer, and an archaeologist. For each facility, the observers recorded data about weather and lighting conditions, photographed the facilities at different focal lengths, and used a numeric scale to assess the facilities' degree of visibility. A total of 48 daytime observations of 11 offshore wind facilities were made, and an additional 6 observations were made at night. Weather and visibility conditions varied widely during the 10-day field study. In the course of this study, under favorable but not exceptional viewing conditions, moderate-sized offshore wind facilities were frequently found to be visible at distances exceeding 21 mi (34 km); they were visible at a maximum distance of 43 km (27 mi), as seen from an elevated viewpoint. With few exceptions, regardless of facility size or lighting conditions, on days with good visibility, offshore wind facilities were judged to be major foci of visual attention at distances of 16 km (10 mi) or less, suggesting potentially high levels of visual impact for sensitive viewers. Smaller wind facilities (25-48 turbines) were generally judged to be easily visible at distances of 23-24 km (14-15 mi). Larger offshore wind facilities (100 or more turbines) were judged likely to be seen easily by casual observers as far away as 29 km (18 mi), and were visible with extended or concentrated viewing at distances greater than 40 km (25 mi). That these distances are greater than those reported in previous studies is likely a function of the long-term trend toward larger offshore wind facilities with more and larger turbines than those assessed in previous studies. Turbine blade movement was visible in 42 of the 49 daytime observations, at distances as great as 42 km (26 mi) as seen from an elevated viewpoint, and was observed routinely at distances of 34 km (21 mi) or less. At night, aerial hazard navigation lighting was visible at distances greater than 39 km (24 mi). The study suggests that as countries begin siting offshore wind facilities with hundreds or even thousands of large wind turbines, there is potential for impacts on sensitive visual resources in coastal areas at greater distances than past studies have indicated.
Sponsorship	Oceanic Eng. Soc.
Starting Page	1
Ending Page	9
File Size	1232558
Page Count	9
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9781467308298
e-ISBN	9781467308311
DOI	10.1109/OCEANS.2012.6405138
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2012-10-14
Publisher Place	USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	Visualization Wind turbines Wind Observers Lighting Rotors Blades Atlantic Offshore offshore wind wind turbine visibility visual impact aesthetic impact visual contrast visual simulation distance United Kingdom Argonne CAST BOEM
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Modelling Rain Drop Impact of Offshore Wind Turbine Blades

Active Aerodynamic Load Control of Wind Turbine Blades

Wind turbine technology — The path to 20% US electrical energy

Proactive maintenance of offshore wind turbine blades using knowledge-based force analysis

Integrated Dynamic Analysis of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

Blade Response on Offshore Bottom Fixed Wind Turbines With Down-Wind Rotors

Experimental Study for SPAR Type Floating Offshore Wind Turbine With Blade-Pitch Control

Adaptive Geometry Wind Turbine Blades for Increasing Performance

Fatigue Life Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbine Support Structures in an Offshore Wind Farm

An assessment of offshore wind turbine visibility in the United Kingdom

Similar Documents

Modelling Rain Drop Impact of Offshore Wind Turbine Blades

Active Aerodynamic Load Control of Wind Turbine Blades

Wind turbine technology — The path to 20% US electrical energy

Proactive maintenance of offshore wind turbine blades using knowledge-based force analysis

Integrated Dynamic Analysis of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

Blade Response on Offshore Bottom Fixed Wind Turbines With Down-Wind Rotors

Experimental Study for SPAR Type Floating Offshore Wind Turbine With Blade-Pitch Control

Adaptive Geometry Wind Turbine Blades for Increasing Performance

Fatigue Life Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbine Support Structures in an Offshore Wind Farm

An assessment of offshore wind turbine visibility in the United Kingdom