Ground-level climate at a peatland wind farm in Scotland is affected by wind turbine operation
The global drive to produce low-carbon energy has resulted in an unprecedented deployment of onshore wind turbines, representing a significant land use change for wind energy generation with uncertain consequences for local climatic conditions and the regulation of ecosystem processes. Here, we pres...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/044024 |
| _version_ | 1827871235403415552 |
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| author | Alona Armstrong Ralph R Burton Susan E Lee Stephen Mobbs Nicholas Ostle Victoria Smith Susan Waldron Jeanette Whitaker |
| author_facet | Alona Armstrong Ralph R Burton Susan E Lee Stephen Mobbs Nicholas Ostle Victoria Smith Susan Waldron Jeanette Whitaker |
| author_sort | Alona Armstrong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The global drive to produce low-carbon energy has resulted in an unprecedented deployment of onshore wind turbines, representing a significant land use change for wind energy generation with uncertain consequences for local climatic conditions and the regulation of ecosystem processes. Here, we present high-resolution data from a wind farm collected during operational and idle periods that shows the wind farm affected several measures of ground-level climate. Specifically, we discovered that operational wind turbines raised air temperature by 0.18 °C and absolute humidity (AH) by 0.03 g m ^−3 during the night, and increased the variability in air, surface and soil temperature throughout the diurnal cycle. Further, the microclimatic influence of turbines on air temperature and AH decreased logarithmically with distance from the nearest turbine. These effects on ground-level microclimate, including soil temperature, have uncertain implications for biogeochemical processes and ecosystem carbon cycling, including soil carbon stocks. Consequently, understanding needs to be improved to determine the overall carbon balance of wind energy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:07:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-967e3fe1c17949a795a18166fc5b18c8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:07:43Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-967e3fe1c17949a795a18166fc5b18c82023-08-09T14:18:27ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262016-01-0111404402410.1088/1748-9326/11/4/044024Ground-level climate at a peatland wind farm in Scotland is affected by wind turbine operationAlona Armstrong0Ralph R Burton1Susan E Lee2Stephen Mobbs3Nicholas Ostle4Victoria Smith5Susan Waldron6Jeanette Whitaker7School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow , Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK; Lancaster Environment Centre and Energy Lancaster, Lancaster University , Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UKNational Centre for Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds , Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKNational Centre for Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds , Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKNational Centre for Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds , Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKLancaster Environment Centre and Energy Lancaster, Lancaster University , Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK; Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, LA1 4AP, UKNational Centre for Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds , Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKSchool of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow , Glasgow G12 8QQ, UKCentre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, LA1 4AP, UKThe global drive to produce low-carbon energy has resulted in an unprecedented deployment of onshore wind turbines, representing a significant land use change for wind energy generation with uncertain consequences for local climatic conditions and the regulation of ecosystem processes. Here, we present high-resolution data from a wind farm collected during operational and idle periods that shows the wind farm affected several measures of ground-level climate. Specifically, we discovered that operational wind turbines raised air temperature by 0.18 °C and absolute humidity (AH) by 0.03 g m ^−3 during the night, and increased the variability in air, surface and soil temperature throughout the diurnal cycle. Further, the microclimatic influence of turbines on air temperature and AH decreased logarithmically with distance from the nearest turbine. These effects on ground-level microclimate, including soil temperature, have uncertain implications for biogeochemical processes and ecosystem carbon cycling, including soil carbon stocks. Consequently, understanding needs to be improved to determine the overall carbon balance of wind energy.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/044024wind energycarbon cyclingmicroclimateatmospheric boundary layer |
| spellingShingle | Alona Armstrong Ralph R Burton Susan E Lee Stephen Mobbs Nicholas Ostle Victoria Smith Susan Waldron Jeanette Whitaker Ground-level climate at a peatland wind farm in Scotland is affected by wind turbine operation Environmental Research Letters wind energy carbon cycling microclimate atmospheric boundary layer |
| title | Ground-level climate at a peatland wind farm in Scotland is affected by wind turbine operation |
| title_full | Ground-level climate at a peatland wind farm in Scotland is affected by wind turbine operation |
| title_fullStr | Ground-level climate at a peatland wind farm in Scotland is affected by wind turbine operation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ground-level climate at a peatland wind farm in Scotland is affected by wind turbine operation |
| title_short | Ground-level climate at a peatland wind farm in Scotland is affected by wind turbine operation |
| title_sort | ground level climate at a peatland wind farm in scotland is affected by wind turbine operation |
| topic | wind energy carbon cycling microclimate atmospheric boundary layer |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/044024 |
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