Analysis of wind speed deviations between floating lidars, fixed lidar and cup anemometry based on experimental data

Floating lidar system (FLS) measurements are essential for offshore site assessment. Here an important part is the data accuracy and uncertainty, which are determined by the wind speed deviations between the FLS and reference data obtained during a verification trial. The reference anemometer is normally a cup anemometer installed on a met mast. Due to the different measurement principles, mast wake effects, the distance between FLS and reference, and FLS motions, the share of these factors in the deviations are not clear. In this work, we present an FLS verification measurement conducted in proximity to the FINO3 met mast located in the North Sea in 2017. Additionally, the data acquired by a fixed, non-moving lidar installed on FINO3 is considered. This allows studying wind speed deviations with different, well-defined influence factors. Methods for analyzing the wind speed accuracy and uncertainty, which are used in FLS verification and classification, are presented and applied to all combinations of data sources. As a preliminary work, directional wind speed deviations are studied to define a valid wind direction sector used for filtering for all data sources. As a result, the wind speed deviations between the FLS and the references are dominated by the FLS motion and the distance to the reference, respectively. Nevertheless, uncertainties may also be seen for the fixed lidar. For the classification results, approximately 1/3 of the sensitivity is contributed by the different measurement principles.