Wetenschapsforum

Space technology optimises windmill efficiency

A French start-up company from ESA’s Business Incubation Centre in the Netherlands has developed a small instrument to measure wind speed and direction from the ground up to heights of 200 metres – information that is vital when deciding where to build a wind turbine to produce electricity.



The French company Leosphere developed their system Windcube using ‘lidar’ (light detection and ranging) remote-sensing technology to measure wind speed and direction, turbulence and wind shear with great precision. Using a laser beam to measure the distance to objects is similar to how sonar measures distances underwater using sound pulses.


The lidar concept being used by Leosphere is similar to that ESA will use on its Aeolus Earth Explorer Atmospheric Dynamics Mission, to provide global observations of wind profiles from space to improve the quality of weather forecasts, and to advance our understanding of atmospheric dynamics and climate processes. Aeolus is planned for launch in 2011.


Bron: ESA


Lees meer: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM07PIJX3G_index_0.html