Calibration of SODARs for wind energy applications

Traditionally SODAR wind profilers have been assumed to be largely self-calibrated, with measurement errors mostly random. However, increasing demand for accuracy in applications such as wind energy demand robust calibration and intercomparison procedures. Comparisons of three commercial SODARs show that performance can be optimised when care is taken with siting, parameter settings during the measurements and data filtering. Instrument design changes can give additional improvements. Recommendations for generic calibration procedures are presented. An outlook on a new standalone calibration method is given