The ever-increasing size of wind turbines in recent years has lead to the need of even higher wind met masts in the wind industry. Operation of very high wind met masts, however, is associated with considerable effort and thus higher costs.

An attractive alternative for wind measurements is the use of remote sensing procedures:

Lidar and Sodar systems allow wind speed measurements at comparatively high altitudes without having to use complex mast constructions.

This technology is being used increasingly and will undoubtedly play an important role in the wind energy industry in the future.

Deutsche WindGuard has an open-field testing facility for such remote wind sensing equipment. Using a 135 meter wind met mast, individual Lidar and Sodar systems are traced back to national standards. This test is equivalent to the calibration of an anemometer in a wind tunnel. In addition, the influence of environmental variables on the accuracy of Lidar and Sodar is type-specifically analysed (classification). With this method it is possible to backtrack and reproduce wind measurements at a defined level of uncertainty by using these remote sensing instruments. This is a fundamental pre-requisite for the acceptance of wind measurements conducted with Lidar and Sodar systems.