Wind resource assessment at California Polytechnic State University shows there is potential for wind power generation on Cal Poly land. A computational fluid dynamics model based on wind data collected from a campus maintained meteorological tower on Escuela Ranch approximately 5 miles northwest of campus suggests there are areas of Cal Poly land with an IEC Class III wind resource at a height of 80 meters above ground. In addition during the daytime when the campus uses the most energy there are large portions of land with annual average daytime wind speeds above 6.9m/s. These areas have been identified by analyzing the wind speed and directional data collected at the meteorological tower and using it to create the boundary conditions and turbulence parameters for the computer model. The model boundary conditions and turbulence parameters have been verified through comparison between data collected at Askervein hill in Scotland during the 1980’s and the results of a simulation of Askervein hill using the same model. Before constructing a wind farm for power generation, additional meteorological towers should be constructed in Poly Canyon to further confirm the wind resource prediction.
","abstract_html":"<p>Wind resource assessment at California Polytechnic State University shows there is potential for wind power generation on Cal Poly land. A computational fluid dynamics model based on wind data collected from a campus maintained meteorological tower on Escuela Ranch approximately 5 miles northwest of campus suggests there are areas of Cal Poly land with an IEC Class III wind resource at a height of 80 meters above ground. In addition during the daytime when the campus uses the most energy there are large portions of land with annual average daytime wind speeds above 6.9m/s. These areas have been identified by analyzing the wind speed and directional data collected at the meteorological tower and using it to create the boundary conditions and turbulence parameters for the computer model. The model boundary conditions and turbulence parameters have been verified through comparison between data collected at Askervein hill in Scotland during the 1980’s and the results of a simulation of Askervein hill using the same model. Before constructing a wind farm for power generation, additional meteorological towers should be constructed in Poly Canyon to further confirm the wind resource prediction.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Smith, Jason Allan"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS in Mechanical Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Patrick Lemieux"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-09-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-09-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:11Z","subjects":["wind resource","anemometer","computational fluid dynamics","Cal Poly","boundary conditions","turbulence model","Other Mechanical Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.15368/theses.2011.184"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.15368/theses.2011.184","href":"https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2011.184","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/629","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Patrick Lemieux"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Smith, Jason Allan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-09-19T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS in Mechanical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["wind resource","anemometer","computational fluid dynamics","Cal Poly","boundary conditions","turbulence model","Other Mechanical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/629","10.15368/theses.2011.184"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Wind resource assessment at California Polytechnic State University shows there is potential for wind power generation on Cal Poly land. A computational fluid dynamics model based on wind data collected from a campus maintained meteorological tower on Escuela Ranch approximately 5 miles northwest of campus suggests there are areas of Cal Poly land with an IEC Class III wind resource at a height of 80 meters above ground. In addition during the daytime when the campus uses the most energy there are large portions of land with annual average daytime wind speeds above 6.9m/s. These areas have been identified by analyzing the wind speed and directional data collected at the meteorological tower and using it to create the boundary conditions and turbulence parameters for the computer model. The model boundary conditions and turbulence parameters have been verified through comparison between data collected at Askervein hill in Scotland during the 1980’s and the results of a simulation of Askervein hill using the same model. Before constructing a wind farm for power generation, additional meteorological towers should be constructed in Poly Canyon to further confirm the wind resource prediction.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["California Polytechnic State University Wind Resource Assessment"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Patrick Lemieux"],"dc:creator":["Smith, Jason Allan"],"dc:date.available":["2011-09-19T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Wind resource assessment at California Polytechnic State University shows there is potential for wind power generation on Cal Poly land. A computational fluid dynamics model based on wind data collected from a campus maintained meteorological tower on Escuela Ranch approximately 5 miles northwest of campus suggests there are areas of Cal Poly land with an IEC Class III wind resource at a height of 80 meters above ground. In addition during the daytime when the campus uses the most energy there are large portions of land with annual average daytime wind speeds above 6.9m/s. These areas have been identified by analyzing the wind speed and directional data collected at the meteorological tower and using it to create the boundary conditions and turbulence parameters for the computer model. The model boundary conditions and turbulence parameters have been verified through comparison between data collected at Askervein hill in Scotland during the 1980’s and the results of a simulation of Askervein hill using the same model. Before constructing a wind farm for power generation, additional meteorological towers should be constructed in Poly Canyon to further confirm the wind resource prediction.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/629","10.15368/theses.2011.184"],"dc:subject":["wind resource","anemometer","computational fluid dynamics","Cal Poly","boundary conditions","turbulence model","Other Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:title":["California Polytechnic State University Wind Resource Assessment"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Mechanical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS in Mechanical Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:11Z"}