Sometimes It Almost Bubbles Like a Witches’ Cauldron

Abstract

When moist and lighter air rises above the comparatively warm sea and meets the drier, heavier layers of air above, it results in vertical rearrangement of these air layers, in turbulences. The investigation of the influences of the atmospheric moisture and the turbulent moisture fluxes on the static stability of the lower layers of air over the sea were the focuses of the RAVE project Measuring and Evaluating the Influence of Turbulent Humidity Fluxes on the Turbulence in Offshore Wind Farms. The turbulence increase especially in the wake flux behind the wind turbines and affect both the yield as well as the fatigue of the offshore wind turbines. The evaluation of meteorological data provides statistical information about the atmospheric turbulence and its relevance under different weather conditions. The vertical profiles of the turbulence can be measured and analysed with the aid of wind lidars.