Richard J.A.M. Stevens

Professor at the University of Twente

Wind energy · Turbulence · Environmental flows

Publication 129 · Clouds and atmospheric flow

Low-level cloud radiative forcing enhances wind-farm wake recovery

D. Selvatici, R.J.A.M. Stevens, PRX Energy 5, 033014 (2026).

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Main finding

Cloud-top radiative cooling can shorten the far wake of a wind farm by strengthening mixing and downward momentum transport in simulated stratocumulus-topped boundary layers (STBL). The conditional large-eddy simulation (LES) result does not establish a universal cloud benefit or quantified operational gain.

Hub-height wake maps for three marine boundary layer cases with velocity recovery beneath
How to read the figure. Hub-height wind speed around a wind farm in three marine boundary layer cases, with the spanwise- and vertically averaged velocity along the same domain beneath; the white contour marks the wake edge. Case A is the radiatively driven stratocumulus-topped boundary layer, and its wake has largely recovered by 40 km while the two cases without cloud-top radiative forcing are still well below the free-stream value. This is conditional evidence from a simulation ensemble, not a general cloud benefit or a quantified operational gain. Open the full-resolution figure. Figure 6. D. Selvatici and R.J.A.M. Stevens (2026). No separate licence is stated here; consult the original publication and credited source before reuse.

Why this matters

Cloud-top cooling can deepen atmospheric mixing and shorten a farm wake.

Research context

The study draws on research into atmospheric stability and wind-farm coupling (Impact of Negative Geostrophic Wind Shear on Wind Farm… (read the finding), Effects of wind turbine rotor tilt on large-scale wind… (read the finding), Diurnal surface heat-flux forcing controls wind-farm performance, blockage, and… (read the finding)), wake recovery and mechanical-energy transport (From turbine-scale to wind farm-scale wake recovery (read the finding)), and finite-farm atmospheric interactions.

Related findings: From turbine-scale to wind farm-scale wake recovery: Understanding the transition; Diurnal surface heat-flux forcing controls wind-farm performance, blockage, and gravity-wave formation.

Coverage of this research

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