Environmental Science and Engineering Seminar

Dr. Caroline Draxl is a senior scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) National Wind Technology Center with a background in numerical weather prediction (NWP) modeling and atmospheric science for wind energy applications. In her talk she will shed light on the structure of NREL and research performed at the National Wind Technology Center. Research topics include how NWP models are used for wind energy applications, e.g., for resource assessments and to improve wind energy forecasts and research in complex terrain and over the ocean. Dr. Draxl will further talk about coupling NWP models to CFD codes to simulate how certain weather conditions impact flow through wind farms, which improves wind turbine design, plant performance, and operations strategies. She'll present on a project that studies the impact of climate change and geoengineering on renewable energy and will also touch upon her latest research interests: wave and tidal energy resource assessments and atmosphere-ocean coupling.