Compact, Low-power, Offshore 3D Wind Sensor

Existing remote wind sensors are too bulky and power-hungry to be incorporated in many of the platforms where they are needed. Therefore, precision wide-area wind profiles are difficult to collect, which currently limits optimi zation of offshore wind power generation, as well as, the precision of data for weather models. The proposed effort will address this problem by developing an architecture capable of making a compact, low-power, precision, remote 3D wind sensor that can be incorporated into many platforms, including buoy networks. The proposed effort will provide a new capability for wide-area offshore wind profiling by creating a compact, low-SWaP, wide-area 3D vector wind sensor suitable for integration in a standard Met-Ocean package. This architecture will minimize the power required to operate the active sensor by utilizing waveforms that minimize the required laser power, low-power beam control for wide area coverage, and efficiently calculating the 3D wind profile in real-time with low power microcontrollers. Successful development of the proposed technology will enable small wind sensors to be incorporated into many platforms that are not possible with current architectures including ocean-based buoys, wind turbine generators, gliders, unmanned air vehicles, and commercial aircraft. Deployment in a network of ocean-based buoys will dramatically improve site surveying for optimization of wind power generation and improve weather forecasting. Incorporation in small UAVs and gliders will enable those aircraft to exploit updrafts for improved flight times, while devices for commercial aircraft will improve safety by providing advance turbulence warnings.