James Christopher Gordon Matthews

Stealth Solutions to Solve the Radar-Wind Farm Interaction Problem

Planning applications for wind farm developments often raise objections due to potential interactions with nearby radar systems. BAE Systems, Advanced Technology Centre is currently involved in a project to investigate the interaction between wind farms and radar systems and the use of stealth technology to wind turbines to mitigate problems. Computer simulation software has been developed and used to understand the aforementioned interactions and to develop target specifications for radar cross-section (RCS) reduction of turbine components via stealth solutions. The simulation includes radar models for simulating typical processing stages and a wind farm model which predicts radar backscatter, using predicted radar cross section data. The solutions involve a combination of shaping and development of radar absorbing materials. An overarching objective has been to minimise the impact (particularly cost) of these solutions to the current wind turbine designs.

Interaction between radar systems and wind farms

At typical radar frequencies a wind turbine has a large radar-cross-section (RCS) and due to the movement of the blades, the wind turbine generates a Doppler spectrum. This scattering behaviour has caused concern with radar operators, particularly those working with safety critical radar and national defence. This paper presents results from a modelling tool developed by BAE systems, advanced technology centre, which models the effect of a wind farm on a radar system. This paper discusses the development of the model and provides an example analysis using a case study, which highlights the problems associated with placing a wind farm near a radar system.