Wind retrieval from Synthetic Aperture Radar Images for wind turbine siting

Offshore and coastal wind farms are becoming important sources of renewable energy. The power production of a wind farm is closely connected to its location, and the expected outcome is traditionally calculated from at least one year of accurate wind meas urements. A unique instrument for measuring wind along coasts, in estuaries, fjords and lakes at high spatial resolution is the satellite SAR. Retrieved wind fields from ERS SAR provide wind maps at a pixel size at 400mx400m covering areas of 100kmx100km which give s an overview of local offshore wind conditions. There is a potential for such satellite data to reduce cost of wind farm planning by improving the efficiency in selecting sites for making in situ observations. Using wide-swath data from the Canadian sate llite RADARSAT and from upcoming new SAR systems (onboard European ENVISAT and Japanese ALOS) will increase the spatial and temporal coverage of a site. A SAR-based system is expected to be particularly valuable in areas of the world where wind measurements are sparse and there is a need for local power production. The project goal is to develop a tool for optimum use of satellite wind estimates in combin ation with traditional methods for siting offshore wind farms.