Wind Farm Turbulence Impacts on General Aviation Airports in Kansas

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Wind Farm Turbulence Impacts on General Aviation Airports in Kansas

T. E. Mulinazzi / Z. C. Zheng

Wind turbines and wind farms have become popular in the State of Kansas. Some general aviation pilots have expressed a concern about the turbulence that the spinning blades are creating. If a wind farm is built near an airport, does this affect the operations in and out of that airport. Other problems associated with wind farms are their impact on agricultural aviation and their influence on radar detection of aircraft in the vicinity of a wind farm. This research project has three objectives: (1) Determine the amount and pattern of the turbulence from a single wind turbine. (2) Determine the amount and pattern of wind turbulence from a wind farm, both in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction. (3) This information will result in recommendations concerning the location of wind farms and their impacts of the safe operation of airports and other aviation activities.