Apr. 27, 2011 On the Front Range within the Rocky Mountains,
prevailing winds sweep eastward over the mountains smack into
the National Wind Technology Center. Several wind turbines, some
taller than a 40-story building, spin and hum at the site, just
outside of Boulder, Colo., waiting for an experiment to start in
the next month. The turbines not only produce power, they
produce wakes -- similar to what forms in bodies of water --
that are invisible ripples and waves and other disturbances in
the atmosphere downstream that can damage turbines and decrease
efficiency. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers
and collaborators will launch a study of those wakes this month,
with an eye toward improving the efficiency of wind farms. The
scientists also will collect valuable data that will help
validate the wind flow models developed at Livermore and other
laboratories and universities. "This study is part of a larger
suite of observational and model development efforts under way
at LLNL to help attain