Atmospheric stability of surface boundary layer in coastal region of the Wol–Ryong site

In order to provide statistically reliable information of a wind energy site, accurate analysis on the atmospheric stability and climate characteristics in a certain area is a prerequisite. Two 2-D ultrasonic anemometers and one cup anemometer, located perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction, were used to measure the atmospheric wind environment at a height of 4.5 m in coastal region of the Wol–Ryong, Jeju, South Korea. The study is aiming to understand the atmospheric stability about a coastal region, and the effect of roughness length. We calculate the Monin–Obukhov length for division of atmospheric stability about unstable regime, neutral regime and stable regime. The distribution of diurnal Monin–Obukhov length is highly sporadic in the coastal region due to the effect of radiant heat from the surface or other environmental effects. In order to calculate the roughness length in coastal region, three different methods are applied in terms of the surface roughness, flow fluctuation and gust wind, which are called logarithmic profile, standard deviation and gust factor methods. In the study, the atmospheric stability was insignificant when applying these three methods. In the results, three different roughness length scales sufficiently showed the effect of obstacle and surface conditions around the measurement position. On the basis of an overall analysis of the short-term data measured in the Wol–Ryong area, Jeju Island, it is concluded that for the development of future wind energy resources, the Wol–Ryong site could be a good candidate for a future wind energy site.