Recently the vertical pointing radar MRR-PRO from METEK was installed at the DTU Risø campus in cooperation with METEK GmbH and METEK Nordic ApS. This radar measures precipitation in heights up to 3000 meters and provides therefore information about the vertical structure of precipitation events.
The measured data of the MRR-PRO is used together with data from the nearby installed rain gauge and disdrometer to proof the concept of Tilg et al. (2020). This concept proposes that if precipitation is registered early enough at a certain height in the atmosphere, there is enough time to apply an erosion-safe operation of the wind turbine before the precipitation particles impact on the wind turbine blades. An erosion-safe operation is the reduction of the tip speed during specific precipitation events to mitigate leading-edge erosion of wind turbine blades.
Reference
Tilg, A.-M., C. B. Hasager, H.-J. Kirtzel, and P. Hummelshøj, 2020: Brief communication: Nowcasting of precipitation for leading-edge-erosion-safe mode. Wind Energ. Sci., 5, 977–981, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-977-2020.