silversphere energy siting toolkit user’s guide · 2018-08-02 · silversphere user guide page 3...

Peak Spatial Enterprises

SILVERSPHERE ENERGY SITING TOOLKIT USER’S GUIDE

Royal Koepsell 04/01/2015

SilverSphere User Guide Page 1

CONTENTS

The SilverSphere System ............................................................................................................................................... 3

SilverSphere’s Architecture ........................................................................................................................................... 3

PeakVue –View-only Access to SilverSphere ............................................................................................................. 5

PeakPortfolio – Development Details and Assessments ........................................................................................... 7

PeakAccess - Customer Access and User Setup ......................................................................................................... 9

Setting up Projects/Sites/Turbines .............................................................................................................................. 11

Adding Projects ........................................................................................................................................................ 11

Adding Sites (Modified for v1.1) .............................................................................................................................. 14

Adding Turbines ....................................................................................................................................................... 16

Uploading a Turbine CSV file. .............................................................................................................................. 16

Adding a Single Wind Turbine.............................................................................................................................. 17

Editing the Project/Site/Turbine Database .............................................................................................................. 20

Editing Site Geometry .............................................................................................................................................. 21

Conduct Assessments .................................................................................................................................................. 22

Radar Viewsheds ..................................................................................................................................................... 22

Radar Assessment (Modified for Vsn 1.1) ............................................................................................................... 25

Find Nearby Radars .............................................................................................................................................. 26

Find Turbines Visible to Radars ........................................................................................................................... 27

Run Radar Model ................................................................................................................................................. 28

Radar Score ...................................................................................................................................................... 29

Probability of Detection ................................................................................................................................... 30

Shadowing ....................................................................................................................................................... 31

False Plots ........................................................................................................................................................ 31

Combined Results ............................................................................................................................................ 31


THE SILVERSPHERE SYSTEM

The SilverSphere Energy Siting Toolkit provides users the ability to enter, visualize, analyze and share siting details

and constraints for their wind energy projects. The toolkit architecture allows client’s to add and edit project, site,

and individual turbine details and to use assessment tools to analyze those project details against constraints that

the project may encounter.

The toolkit includes secured project database, geographic mapping, and constraint assessment tools that a user

may access at any time, from virtually any location, using web browsers to access this functionality. Every

corporate subscription includes a unique and secure URL access for the client and can be scaled to the number of

projects/sites that a client requires.

SilverSphere users control access to their projects and can create, modify, and delete users as needed through a

project’s development lifecycle. A user can provide view only access to project information or provide select team

members with the ability to modify project details. This insures that the developer not only controls access to

their project information but also provides flexibility and immediate project information sharing among the client’s

development team and others with whom they might want to share project information.

SILVERSPHERE’S ARCHITECTURE

The SilverSphere toolkit operates as a unique client system accessible via web browsers and connected to secure

servers and applications maintained and operated by Peak Spatial Enterprises. Peak Spatial configures a user’s

basic components and provides the initial URLs for access to a user’s specific installation of the toolkit. Access to

the toolkit is controlled by the client and project information is secured in client protected databases within the

system. A client can establish multiple users with different access/privilege settings to allow collaborative access

and updates to the client projects.


A SilverSphere toolkit installation includes customer specific:

PeakAccess site to establish and control system access,

SilverSphere home page with PeakVue and PeakPortfolio access, and

SilverSphere login page.

Unique client URL’s to these pages are provided as part of a SilverSphere installation and all tools provided with

the installation are available to a customer for unlimited use during the period of a subscription.


PEAKVUE –VIEW-ONLY ACCESS TO SILVERSPHERE

The PeakVue access to SilverSphere provides “view-only” access to a client’s project/site/turbine information.

PeakVue’s layout includes a Control frame, a Map frame, and a Gridview frame.

The Control Frame of PeakVue allows users the ability to filter what they see in the Map and Gridview frames by

filtering for a particular project/site, to perform limited mapping functions, and to select/deselect geographic data

layers using a legend. Tabs in the Control Frame allow a user to Filter for specific projects and sites, access the

legend, and to use simple map tools.

The Map Tools tab provides a PeakVue user simple map tools to measure distance in the Map Frame and to also

determine rough proximity of a objects within the Map Frame by using a simple Buffer tool that draws a circle with

a user selected radius on the Map Frame.

Control Frame - PeakVue Map Frame – PeakVue

Gridview Frame - PeakVue


The Legend tab provides a user the ability to select/deselect items from the Map Frame using a table of contents

type interface. A user checks on or off the layers of information that they desire to display.

Note: The Map Tools and Legend tabs in PeakVue are the equivalent tabs and functionality found in the

PeakPortfolio Control Frame.

The Map Frame displays the geographic locations of projects, sites, and turbines as well as geographic data layers

selected in the legend. The Map Frame also interacts with the Control Frame Filters, Map Tools and Legend

components by zooming to the particular projects, sites, and turbines selected, displaying distance and buffer

areas, and changing map layers. Some objects within the Map Frame can be queried by clicking on the object in

the Map Frame.

The Gridview Frame provides details about the Project/Site/Turbines selected in the Control frame and provides

read only access to database information about the project that entered by the client.

Project/Site/Turbine data visible in PeakVue is dynamically connected with any additions, edits, or deletions made

by other client users who have PeakPortfolio access. This provides all toolkit users who have view only access to

projects to get up to date information about the projects. By dynamically linking project updates within the

system, the SilverSphere toolkit user base has a definitive “truth” database about the details of every project, site,

and turbine in the system.


PEAKPORTFOLIO – DEVELOPMENT DETAILS AND ASSESSMENTS

PeakPortfolio provides access to complete project data entry, editing, and assessment functions. This component

of the toolkit shares similar map visualization of projects, sites and turbines as PeakVue and adds the ability to

modify projects and conduct assessments of projects against constraints (radar in the current version).

PeakPortfolios’s layout includes a Control frame, a Map frame, and a Gridview frame similar to PeakVue.

The Control Frame of PeakPortfolio allows users the ability to add, edit, and delete projects, sites and turbines.

The Control frame replaces the “Filter” tab in PeakVue with a “Projects/Sites”, “Turbine Placement”, and

“Turbines” tabs. The Map Controls and Legend tabs operate as they do for the PeakVue component. Filtering of

Project/Sites is performed in the “Projects/Sites” tab. This moves a user to a specific project/site location in the

map view and sets up PeakPortfolio to add, edit, delete, or perform assessments on the selected project/site.

Control Frame - PeakPortfolio Map Frame - PeakPortfolio

Gridview and Assessments Frame - PeakPortfolio


The Projects/Sites tab also provides a user access to prior assessments performed for the selected project/site and

it serves as the location where new projects and sites are added to the system. (See adding projects/sites/turbines

below) The Turbine Placement tab of the Control Frame allows a user to add a single turbine or multiple turbines

to a project and site. The Turbines tab in the Control frame provides a table of all turbine details available for any

project/site selected by the user. The table includes “Select” and “Map” links that highlight a pull up details about

the turbine in the Gridview and centers the Map Frame on the turbine respectively.

The Map Frame displays the geographic locations of projects, sites, and turbines as well as geographic data layers

selected in the legend. The Map Frame also interacts with the Filters by zooming to the particular projects, sites,

and turbines selected, the Map Tools for displaying distance and buffer areas, and Legend selections made in the

Control Frame. Some objects within the Map Frame can be queried by clicking on the object in the Map Frame.

The Gridview Frame of PeakPortfolio provides access and read/write privileges to Project, Site, and Turbine details

selected from the Control frame under the “Edit Data” tab. The Gridview Frame also provides the user access to

the full range of project assessment options which are accessed under the “Assessments” tab.

Project/Site/Turbine data visible in PeakVue are dynamically connected with any additions, edits, or deletions

made by other client users who have PeakPortfolio access. This provides all toolkit users who have view only

access to projects to get up to date information about the projects. By dynamically linking project updates within

the system, the SilverSphere toolkit user base an authoritative “truth” database about the details of every project,

site, and turbine in the system.


PEAKACCESS - CUSTOMER ACCESS AND USER SETUP

PeakAccess provides every client with the ability to establish user access to the client’s SilverSphere functions. The

tool operates as a separate and unique site for the client and is typically accessible to the client’s administrator.

A client logs on to PeakAccess by going to the unique URL established for the client. The client logs in, selects the

Admin button in the upper right of the screen, and opens the PeakAccess control screen.


The PeakAccess control screen includes the tools used by the corporate administrator of the client’s SilverSphere

account to create, edit, and delete users of the tool. The corporate administrator can rapidly look at all users on

the system based on the roles that they have been given (upper left frame) which populates the bottom frame

with the specific user access information. This information shows information about the users’ access and also

provides the administrator the ability to “Select” a particular user and edit their username, password, and access

information. This editing function takes place in the upper right frame of PeakAccess.

The upper right frame provides the data entry and update functions used by the corporate administrator to add,

change, delete, or suspend access for individual users.


SETTING UP PROJECTS/SITES/TURBINES

Adding, editing, and deleting projects, sites and turbines are fundamental capabilities of PeakPortfolio that a user

will use to visualize and assess energy developments. These functions are are only accessible to users who have

been given access to PeakPortfolio by their company’s lead administrator of the tool via PeakAccess.

New projects, sites and turbines are added from the Control Frame of PeakPortfolio. The hierarchy of setting up

and deleting projects follows a project, site, and turbine approach. A new project must be in place before a site

can be added and a site must be in place before turbines can be added.

The basic steps for setting up projects follow a sequence of:

1. Add Project

2. Add Site to Project

3. Add Turbines to Site

These steps are described in the following paragraphs.

ADDING PROJECTS

A project is defined as a geographic point that a user establishes to identify a general location for one or more sites

and turbines within those sites.

A user adds a new project by selecting the Projects/Sites tab in the Control Frame and selecting the “Place Project”

button. This activates the user’s cursor when placed over the Map Frame where the user selects the location of

the Project. The latitude and longitude of a project are automatically entered in the Control Frame’s Project


latitude and longitude when the user clicks the location of the project in the map frame. A red crosshair icon is

placed at the location of the project.

If the user is satisfied that the project location is placed correct they then select the Add Project button. The

Gridview frame will open the project database entry for the selected Project and the user enters all data

associated with the project making sure to enter data in those fields that are highlighted with “Required Field”

notations.

The only “Required Field” for Projects is the Project Name


Once the data is entered the user selects the Insert button and the data will be entered into the client database for

this project.

REFRESH the browser – at this point, the project is entered in the database. The map display however, may not

show the new project due to browser operations. A user should refresh the browser and the new project will not

only be accessible via the Project pulldown in the Control Frame but a Project icon (red star) will appear on the

map at the new project location. The user will also be able to select the icon and see a summary of information

about the project in the maptips viewer.


ADDING SITES (MODIFIED FOR V1.1)

Change Note – Version 1.1 eliminates the requirement for a user to draw a site geometry/boundary as part of

initial site setup. A site must still be established in order to add turbine details but the only required data

element for a site is the Site Name. A site geometry/boundary can be manually entered by a user but, in the

absence of that geometry, the turbine locations will provide the boundary definitions for assessments and

analysis. The site boundary, if not manually entered, is calculated as a convex hull around the turbines

associated with a site.

A site is a subset of a project and can be defined by a geographic polygon created automatically around turbines

or, optionally, established/drawn by the user outlining the geographic extent of a particular development. A

project typically includes one site but additional sites can be added, over time, to a project. Note: SilverSphere is

deployed for users and is set to accommodate a user selected number of sites. A site is the level at which

assessments typically are performed and for which reports and output files are created. A SilverSphere account

may have one or more sites and can be modified by Peak Spatial to support additional sites if desired.

The first step required in adding a Site is to select a Project that has already been established by the user. A

Project is selected using the pulldown menu under Projects in the “Projects/Sites” tab of the Control Frame.


To add a new or additional Site for a Project, a user selects the Add Site button from the Control Frame Note – the

Add Site section is below the Add New Project section of the Control Frame and may not be visible – user the

Control Frame slider bar on the right of the frame to get to the Add Site functions. If the Add Site button is “greyed

out” it’s because a Project has not been selected or the number of sites that your account allows has been

exceeded.

Selecting the Add Site button opens the Gridview frame with the site database parameters available for data entry.

Just as was done in the Projects data entry, a user can fill out as many of the database fields as they know paying

particular attention to adding the “Required Fields”. A user is only required to enter a Site Name to define the Site

for Version 1.1. When all attributes are added for the Site, select the “Insert” button and the Site will be entered

into the database.

Optional Place Site Button - Version 1.1 includes the option of a Place Site button which activates the cursor on the

map frame to draw a geographic boundary. When this button is selected, the user moves the computer cursor to

the map frame and positions the cursor at a point on the map that corresponds to a corner of the desired site. The

user draws the outline of the site using this approach and ends the drawing by double-clicking the last corner point

of the site to complete the polygon definition of the site. If this site position and shape are correct, the user then

goes back to the Control Frame and clicks on the “Add Site” button.

Once a site is successfully added to a Project and the browser has been refreshed, a user will then see the Project

and Site as selectable options in the

Project/Site pulldown menus in the Control

Frame. When a user selects a particular

project after logging in to the system, the

Map Frame will zoom to the Project and

when the user then selects a specific Site

under that Project, the Map Frame will zoom

to the particular site. This Site is now ready

to accept turbine placement.


ADDING TURBINES

Adding turbines to a Project/Site location is accomplished via the “Turbine Placement” tab in the Control Frame

and can be accomplished either by uploading wind turbines from a previously prepared comma separated value

(CSV) file or by placing a single turbine using the “Place Wind Turbine” button.

The fastest method of adding wind turbines is the CSV file approach, especially in situations where wind

development plans have been previously laid out based on wind resource assessments and other factors. By using

the downloadable .csv file included in the “Turbine Placement” tab, a user can rapidly modify the file with specific

development wind turbine details and upload an entire wind development with one click of a mouse.

If a developer is in the early stages of a project and wants to get a simple assessment of a turbine or two in a

particular location, then the “Add a Single Turbine” option might work best.

Either method allows a user to populate a selected Project/Site with turbines and postures the Project/Site for

detailed constraint and site assessment.

The complexity of adding turbines to a Site involves adding the necessary data in Required Fields elements of the

turbine database. Because the physical dimensions and locations of the turbines are included in a number of

detailed analyses, there are more required data elements to enter. This is another reason that, for large projects

with already established turbine types and locations, uploading this information via the csv file approach is the

fastest and most reliable method.

Required data fields for Turbines include:

Turbine Type ID

Tower Type ID

Latitude (decimal degrees)

Longitude (decimal degrees)

Elevation (meters)

Hub Height (meters)

Swept Area (square meters)

Steps to add turbines to a project/site:

1. Login to SilverSphere and Select PeakPortfolio

2. Select the Project and Site that you want to add Turbines from the Project/Sites Tab

3. Select the Turbine Placement tab

4. Select either Upload Wind Turbines or Add a Single Turbine

5. Follow procedures for uploading that may include adding required fields in the Gridview Frame

6. Save and exit any Turbine addition operations

7. Refresh the browser

8. Reselect the Project/Site where turbines were added

UPLOADING A TURBINE CSV FILE.


Once a Project and Site have been entered into a client’s database, adding multiple turbines using the CSV file

approach is very simple.

The time involved in this upload is the

creation of the detailed information for

the CSV file. A blank file can be

downloaded from the SilverSphere site

at any time and a client needs only to

enter the required turbine data fields in

the form and re-save it as a CSV file.

Once saved, the client just selects the

Choose File button which takes a client to your file structure, where you select the desired CSV file. After selecting

the file, a user selects the “Upload File” button and the system will upload the CSV file to the client’s database and

will automatically check to ensure that the upload was successful and will also automatically refresh the screen. If

the file is successfully uploaded, a user can now go to the Project/Site and will see the turbines in the map and will

also be able to select the Turbines tab in the Control View to see the turbine details just loaded. At this point every

turbine loaded in the fashion are available for editing and updating as part of the project.

ADDING A SINGLE WIND TURBINE

The addition of individual wind turbines is also a simple process . This process follows the same general steps that

are required for the CSV file upload but uses the SilverSphere PeakPortfolio interfaces to enter turbine details.

Before any individual turbines can be

entered into the system, a user must

already have created a Project and

Site. To add a turbine to a Site the

user must first navigate to the

particular Project/Site of interest and

then select the Turbine Placement tab

in the Control View and, using the

Add a Single Wind Turbine section of

the view, select the “Place Wind

Turbine” button and move the cursor

to the Map Frame and click on the

location within the site where the turbine will be placed. Note: if the “Place Wind Turbine” button is greyed out

it’s because you have not selected a specific Project and Site.

Once you click on a location on the Map Frame, the latitude, longitude, and elevation of that point will be

registered in the “Add a Single Wind Turbine” fields and you will then be able click the “Add Turbine” button to

add that turbine to the database. If the location is not correct, all a user need do is select the “Cancel” button and

start again.


When the “Add Turbine” button is selected, the initial location and elevation information for that turbine is placed

into the database and the Turbine editing function opens in the Gridview Frame with the database entry elements

available to populate. At this point a user selects the Turbine type, Tower Type, Hub Height and Swept Area

elements to complete the initial required data entry. When those elements are added to the database a user

selects the “Insert” button at the top of the Gridview Frame and the turbine data is entered into the database.

Once this is complete, this individual turbine has been added to this Project/Site and is available for more detailed

assessment and data element editing as may be needed.


.


EDITING THE PROJECT/SITE/TURBINE DATABASE

SilverSphere operates as an online database of project information. Most user entered Project information can be

edited within the GridView frame by selecting the Edit Data tab.

A user with read/write privileges (as defined in PeakAccess) can edit the information in SilverSphere. The Project,

Site, and Turbine data entered in the system can be edited in PeakPortfolio by selecting a Project/Site/Turbine in

the Control Frame and then selecting Edit Data and the appropriate tab in the Gridview Frame.

To edit a Project, a specific Project must be selected in the Control Frame. To edit a Site and Turbines a particular

Site must be selected. Turbine editing is accomplished after selecting a particular Project/Site and opening the

Turbines tab in the Control Frame. The Turbines tab lists all turbines in a Site and allows a user to Select a

particular turbine or choose a Map hyperlink to highlight on the map the specific turbine selected.

Choosing the Select link on the left of any particular turbine opens that particular turbine in the GridView Frame

and, by selecting Edit Turbine, the details of that turbine are opened for editing and updating.

Note: If a user wants to make bulk edits to a large project it will likely be easier to download the turbine data for a

site, edit the particular field of interest in Excel or other spreadsheet program, and then reload all turbines at once.

This works particularly well for changing tower types, turbine models, swept areas and so on. For every editing

function, a user must always select either Update or Cancel buttons in the GridView Frame prior to exiting the

editing function. All edits are finalized when the Update button is selected. The newly revised information is


immediately accessible to other contributors who are working on the project.

EDITING SITE GEOMETRY

Note: Version 1.1 only requires the Site Name to establish a Site. Version 1.0 required that a user create a

bounding box/geometry around the site. The new implementation allows turbines to be added after a Site has

been established and named and provides the user the ability to draw Site boundaries later. This editing function

is accessed through the GridView Edit Data tab. A user selects the Project/Site of interest in the Control Frame and

then the Edit Data / Site tabs in the GridView Frame.

Selecting the Site tab and the Edit

button opens the Site details in the

database. Site geometry is controlled in

the “Site Boundary on Map” line of the

database. This line now includes “Begin

Edits” and “Save Edits” buttons. To

either Create or Edit a site boundary, a

user need only select the “Begin Edits”

function and follow the same procedure

as creating site boundaries in the Optional Place Site capability described in the Adding Sites paragraph.


CONDUCT ASSESSMENTS

Assessments are conducted primarily on established Projects/Sites/Turbines. The current version of SilverSphere

offers two types of Radar analyses to support basic site analysis through detailed turbine to turbine impacts on

radars.

Both analyses produce output that can support a user’s project siting and permitting processes.

The two radar assessment processes are the Radar Viewshed and the Radar Line of Sight analysis.

RADAR VIEWSHEDS

The radar viewshed is an assessment that is not specifically tied to a users’ Project/Site locations. The viewshed

tool produces detailed but general landscape assessments anywhere in contiguous United States. This geographic

scope can be extended to other countries with the caveat that a client must specify locations and general types of

radars that they may confront in their development. The basic viewshed tool for US users includes all 319

surveillance and terminal radars and their basic performance parameters.

The Radar Viewshed assessment is accessed in the Gridview Frame of PeakPortfolio.

Selecting the Radar Viewshed assessment tab opens the tool in the Gridview frame. Performing a viewshed

assessment requires selecting the following input:

a desired “buffer” distance for radar identification around the location, and

a location on the map,

a desired height above ground level of the target (turbine, tower, building)


The screen shot above shows that a user has selected a buffer distance of 75 miles, selected a buffer center point

by using “Select point for Viewshed” button, and established a target height above ground of 350 feet.

After a user selects the buffer distance and center point in the Map Frame, the Viewshed assessment tool

identifies all radars found within that buffer distance around the selected point. In this example, the tool found

two Terminal (airport) radars and one Surveillance radar within the buffer. Those radars are highlighted on the

map and in the Gridview assessment frame. The last step in performing the viewshed assessment is to simply click

on the “Compute Viewshed” button.

This initiates the assessment ending in the production of viewsheds for each of the radars found in the particular

assessment based on the selected Target Height and the general radar performance/pointing parameters for each

type of radar found in the buffer. The radar viewshed incorporates the generally accepted practice of a 4/3rds

earth radius to accommodate refraction and earth curvature. The underlying elevation data is SRTM data sampled

at 1 arcsecond resolution (approximately 30m) with a vertical error of +/- 16m. The end result of this particular

viewshed assessment is shown in the figure below. The viewshed display includes different color viewshed

response based on whether an area is “seen” by one or more radars. The light blue color indicates that one radar

sees that geography, light purple that two radars see the geography, and darker purple shows that all three radars

for this particular assessment can see the geography.

Note: While not specifically tied to a particular Project/Site, this Map Frame image shows a previously entered

Project and Site in the lower part of the image. If the objects in that Project/Site location are 350 feet tall (the

setting for this particular viewshed example) one of the radars would be able to “see” those objects.

Radar IDs within the buffered distance and a “viewshed” map showing the geographic extent of a radar’s physical

viewshed of anything that projects above the surface of the earth at the desired height. If multiple radars are

found in the buffer, the viewshed tool produces and overlaps multiple viewsheds in the viewer.

Output from the Radar Viewshed Assessment

The Radar Viewshed creates output that can be seen dynamically in the Map Frame and can also produce and

export Shapefiles for integration and use in geographic analysis tools and frameworks external to SilverSphere. Of


course, a simple screenshot of the Map Frame can also produce an image file such as a JPEG or PNG file that can

be easily imported into a document or presentation.

Note: As of 8 October, the Viewshed tool produces multiple viewsheds as described above but only displays the

last radar processed in the Map Frame. This peculiarity is the result of creating unique shapefile outputs for each

radar assessed. The viewsheds are produced but packaged for external use. To visualize all viewsheds in the Map

Viewer, the user should select the smallest buffer size in the assessment tool and select the assessment point next

to the radar of interest. This will produce a single viewshed for that radar and it will be displayed in the viewer. To

show another radar viewshed, initiate a new assessment and again select a small buffer and point on the map next

to the next radar of interest and run the viewshed again. This will create and display the viewshed of this specific

radar in the Map Frame.

Note: the Radar Viewshed buffer circle displayed in the Map Frame can be removed by selecting the “Clear

Graphics” button in the Map Tools tab of the Control Frame.


RADAR ASSESSMENT (MODIFIED FOR VSN 1.1)

Change Note – Version 1.1 eliminates the Radar Line of Sight (LOS) assessment and replaces the functionality

with the Radar Assessment Tab. Radar Assessment includes identification of radars and line of sight as available

in Version 1.0 and adds the computation of detailed wind development/wind turbine geometries and new Radar

Score. The proprietary Radar Score includes the geometry and the radar technical impact as computed by the

SilverSphere radar model.

The Radar Assessment tool that produces detailed radar – turbine impacts for client project and site details. This

tool computes a number of key parameters that ultimately determine a wind development’s Radar Score for each

radar visible to turbines in a development. The Radar Assessment is accessed in the Gridview Frame of

PeakPortfolio.

The Radar Assessment consists of multiple steps that:

Identify radars within possible range of a Project/Site

Draw sight/visibility lines from all radars to each individual turbine within a development

Assess visibility of all turbines to all radars at four different turbine locations – blade top, tower top, blade

bottom, and turbine base

Run a detailed radar model for the turbines within a Project/Site, based on the visibility parameters,

turbine parameters, and radar types, to calculate radar impacts caused by turbines and

Calculates a Radar Score for selected radars visible to a development

Produces Line of Sight shapefile and Radar Model CSV file output for selected assessment results

Note – The Radar Assessment is specifically tied to the selection of an existing project and site that has at least one

turbine at the site.

Conducting a Radar Assessment requires selection of Project and Site, in the Control Frame, as input.


Radar Assessments steps include:

Find Nearby Radars

Find Turbines Visible to Radars and

Run Radar Model

These steps are activated sequentially as a user walks through and assessment.

FIND NEARBY RADARS

This initial step of the Line of Sight assessment quickly determines radars that may be in range of a selected

Project/Site. A user simply selects the “Find Nearby Radars” button and SilverSphere performs a quick 75 mile

proximity search around the turbines of the site and returns the ID numbers for radars found, identifies the found

radars with a cyan diamond on the map, populates a pull down menu to select the radar ID number to analyze, and

activates the “Find Turbines Visible to Radars” button. If no radars are within range of the project/site the system

will return a message in the assessment frame.

Select Project/Site for the Radar

Line of Sight Assessment

Step One button activated


FIND TURBINES VISIBLE TO RADARS

Step 2 of the Line of Sight Assessment requires the selection of a radar from the drop down menu between Steps 1

and 2. The radars are identified with a Radar ID number. The Radar IDs of the radars found in Step 2 can be

determined by clicking on the cyan diamond icons in the map viewer. A maptips box will open. The Radar ID is

one of the attributes displayed in the maptips.

Find Turbines Visible to Radars initiates a geoprocessing service that ultimately displays every turbine’s visibility to

the selected radar at four different turbine heights above the ground. The turbine heights are the base of the

turbine, the bottom of the blade, the top of the tower, and the top of the blade. These visibility points provide the

basic information needed by the radar model to determine the impact of the turbines on the selected radar’s

probability of detection and shadowing evaluations.

This process typically takes place in approximately 90 to 120 seconds but depends on the number of turbines in a

development. Step 2 completes with the drawing of sight lines from the selected radar to each of the turbines in

the development. The sight line is depicted as a green/red line connecting the radar and turbine. The green

segment of the line indicates that the ground is not seen and the red segment of the line indicates where the radar

line would hit the ground. This distinction isn’t particularly critical for the turbines since they are measured at the

height above the ground. The turbine visibility to the radar is depicted by icons. Turbine Visibility is shown by the

following color/icons:

Red – Base of Turbine or Blade Bottom

Orange – Tower Top

Yellow – Blade Top

No Icon – Not Visible

Step One Complete

Radars Returned and Step 2

Button Activated


RUN RADAR MODEL

The final and most detailed step of the Radar Assessment is the computation of the Radar Score for the selected

Project/Site and the radar selected in Step 2. The Radar Model is a highly complex model that calculates the

impact of the wind turbines of a project on the selected radar’s technical performance.

Once the Run Radar Model button is selected the input parameters are sent to the SilverSphere servers and the

model run is initiated. This model run operates offline and can take a considerable amount of time depending on

the number of turbines in a development. The system provides an estimate of time expected for the calculation of

the detailed radar results and the Check Status button is available to check on the model run. The status options

are simply, Submitted, Executing, or Completed with the date/time of the initiation.

Note: Since the model runs completely offline on the SilverSphere servers, a user can log out of the system and

work on other projects. When they log back in to the system they can check the status of the Assessment by

selecting the Project/Site in the Control Frame and selecting the Assessment ID. There is a Check Status Prior

Assessments menu in the Control Frame that will

return the information about the process. If the

process in complete, the radar results will be

loaded in the Radar Assessment tab of the

Gridview Frame.

The radar model calculates a number of key

performance impacts on the radar based on the

presence of potential wind turbines with particular attributes. The primary site information associated with the

assessment includes detailed range, angles, radar range bin sizes at a turbine location, areal measurements of the

wind development and maximum and minimum distances and angular ranges for turbines within the


development. Specific radar-turbine

calculations are made to determine the

impact a turbine has on the particular radar’s1

probability of detection, shadowing, and

potential to induce false plots.

The Radar Assessment results include five

tabs; the Radar Score, Probability of

Detection, Shadowing, False Plots, and

Combined Results

RADAR SCORE

The Radar Score tab provides the site’s Radar Score for the selected radar as well as general site and radar

information.

This Radar Score, based on a possible 500 point total, provides at once a detailed, comprehensive, and consistent

assessment of your project’s impact on radars within range of your development. This knowledge provides a

consistent score for your project while highlighting specific turbine’s impact on radars. The scoring methodology

includes detailed

Site geometry and development scope/size; distance, angular range, areal extent

1 The SilverSphere radar model includes specific terminal(airport) and air surveillance radars. Current radars

modeled include ASR9 and ASR11 terminal radars and CARSR(FPS66/67, ARSR 1, 2,and 3) and ARSR4 surveillance radars


Radar performance impact based on turbine/tower visibility at seven altitudes against three target sizes with

respect to radars (CARSR, ARSR, ASR9/11),

Wind turbine shadowing for three target sizes and four distances behind each turbine

Modeled after the credit score approach, each development receives a technically consistent score that

government assessment organizations can use to begin their operational assessment of impacts. While not a

guarantee of project approval, the score captures a high degree of detail about a site’s potential impact, saving you

and the government, time analyzing project details and reacting to design changes.

PROBABILITY OF DETECTION

The Probability of Detection tab in the Radar Assessment includes the calculation of the impact for every turbine in

the development and its impact on the selected radar calculated at seven different altitudes and for three

different radar target sizes2. The probability of detection values in the cells of the tables provide a numeric

percentage and color indicator of the impact of the turbine on the design expectations of the radar without the

turbine present. The areal impact of these Pd degradation values are further refined by the size of the range bin

and adjacent range bins where the degradation occurs. Each line of the table describes one radar-turbine pair.

Along the top of the table are the altitude choices and across the top of each table are the target sizes and range

bin or adjacent range bin column headers.

The “Map” highlight on the left side of this table and the tables that follow provide the

user the ability to visualize the radar-turbine pair for that line of the table. Selecting the

“Map” hyperlink turns on a dashed cyan line between the turbine and radar providing

useful information about which turbine(s) may be the most problematic from a radar

perspective.

2 Altitudes 500,1000,1500,3000,5000,10000,and 12000 meters, Target Sizes – 0.1, 2.2, and 30 square meters


SHADOWING

The shadowing tab shows the impact that Project/Site turbines have on the radar. Shadowing is a phenomenon

that is strictly a function of the visibility of the turbine tower to the radar beam and the size of the target that

might be behind the turbines. The Radar Asssessment calculate the impact of shadowing by determining the

probability of detection behind the turbines for each size target at distance of 1000, 5000, 10000, and 15000

meters. The table shows both a numeric and color coded cell for these values.

FALSE PLOTS

The False Plots tab provides timing details of potential overlap between the rotation of the selected radar and the

RPM of the wind turbine. False plot potential is not included in the Radar Score but is provided here to show

timing components that may result in a false plot condition for a radar. The most likely false plot scenario for a

wind farm occurs when the leading or trailing edge blade flash from a wind turbine coincides with the radar beam

sweeping over that turbine. Since all turbines in a wind farms present varying rotations to the radar, the potential

for false plots becomes a timing, orientation, and, ultimately, a probabilistic occurrence.

COMBINED RESULTS


The Combined Results tab includes a tabular display of all of the radar model details for the selected Assessment.

This table is provided so that an output file can be exported to a csv file type and downloaded for use and analysis

in other applications. To download the results simply select the Export Detailed Results to CSV file icon.

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