Sensitivity analysis of computational domain height for semi-infinite and finite-sized wind farms

Abstract The choice of computational domain height is important for Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of wind farm wakes and flow blockage in a thermally stratified atmospheric boundary layer. A shallow domain may not be able to capture wind farm-induced gravity waves, which influence both the wind farm wakes and the global flows around the wind farm. However, larger computational domains require greater computational resources. A sensitivity study of the domain height using a semi-infinite wind farm reveals that a domain height on the order of a kilometer may lead to an underprediction of wake recovery. For a finite-sized wind farm, the lateral Reynolds shear stress is found to be independent of the domain height.