Professor Peter Taylor’s Paper featured on front cover of Journal of Geophysical Research – Oceans

Atmospheric Science Professor Peter Taylor and Grad student Soudeh Afsharian’s paper, On the Potential Impact of Lake Erie Wind Farms on Water Temperatures and Mixed‐Layer Depths: Some Preliminary 1‐D Modeling Using COHERENS was featured on the front cover of the Journal of Geophysical Research’s March issue.  

Their research article covers Lake Erie’s potential as a significant wind energy resource. If wind farms were to be installed offshore in Lake Erie in the limited areas with water depths suitable for wind farms, there would be significant effects on the wind field and they could potentially raise water temperatures.   

The objective of Taylor and Afsharian’s research is to study the airflow over certain Great Lakes with and without wind farms to investigate the effects on circulation, mixing and water quality issues.   

A more detailed paper has been submitted for possible publication in the Journal on Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, and Soudeh is extending her work with support from a York University postdoctoral fellowship (YPDF).  

The Abstract is below:   Lake Erie has a significant wind energy resource potential, with extensive areas of moderate water depth and proximity to major cities and industries with substantial electricity demands.   

The presence of significant numbers of large turbines in wind farms will lead to reduced wind speeds and wind stresses in the wakes within and downwind of the farms.   

This in turn will affect surface fluxes, currents, and mixing in lake waters, generally allowing increased surface temperatures and reduced summer time mixed‐layer depths.   

The potential magnitude of these impacts is investigated with a one-dimensional application of the Coupled Hydrodynamical‐Ecological Model for Regional and Shelf Seas model for three different water depths using observed meteorological data as input.