…This weekend, I asked a real life radar expert (my Dad) if wind turbines could indeed distrupt military radar, as all new wind energy projects have been put on hold until this “problem” can be studied by the military (a subject of an earlier post). His answer? Unconclusive — now in his second decade of retirement, he conceeds that technology has moved on so quickly, he could not say for sure, although he expressed his doubts after hearing the political backstory. One tidbit he did offer: In addition to to being a radar repair specialist for the Air Force, NASA and Navy, my dad was also once an Indianapolis police officer. He told me that cars with toy pinwheels attached to the radio antenna would sometimes register 100+ mph speeds on police radar. This is not a suggestion on how to beat a speeding ticket rap — just an observation. [see this thread]
Flying under the radar…
Jun 26 2006 — 2:00am
4 Reader Comments
9:17 am
Is it any coincidence that the best places for wind farms help define “flyover country” ?
9:52 am
seriously, just build taller radar towers
10:40 am
Funny Champs! I just got back from a week in Arizona and California, and driving from Phoenix to San Diego I saw an enormous wind farm. Lots of land for that kind of thing in the desert too.
Incidentally, now I know what the Border Patrol does. They make jokes about my wife and I being dressed alike, as they check people driving from Arizona to California. Apparently all Hispanics were being pulled to the side… and all gringos got to drive right through.
9:23 pm
The radar issue is a legitimate one–wind turbines do show up on radar screens–but it is site-specific and can usually be dealt with by relocating some turbines or by upgrades to the radar hardware or software. A blanket “freeze” on all new installations is inappropriate.
Also, the language calls for studying impacts of wind on radar, but not ways to mitigate those impacts. Obviously, that is a wrong-headed approach and potential solutions should be thoroughly studied and publicized as well.
Regards,
Tom Gray
American Wind Energy Association
http://www.awea.org
http://www.ifnotwind.org