Wind Turbine Visibility and Visual Impact Threshold Distances in ...

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Wind Turbine Visibility and Visual Impact Threshold Distances in Western Landscapes Abstract The siting of wind facilities to minimize visual impacts to high-value scenic resources presents a major challenge for land management agencies in the western United States. The visibility and potential visual contrasts associated with utility-scale wind facilities are dependent on complex interactions of a variety of factors, but little systematic study of visibility in real landscape settings has been conducted. In a study sponsored by the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, 377 observations of five wind facilities in Wyoming and Colorado were made under various lighting and weather conditions. The facilities were found to be visible to the unaided eye at >58 km (36 mi) under optimal viewing conditions, with turbine blade movement often visible at 39 km (24 mi). Under favorable viewing conditions, the wind facilities were judged to be major foci of visual attention at up to 19 km (12 mi) and likely to be noticed by casual observers at >37 km (23 mi). A conservative interpretation suggests that for such facilities, an appropriate radius for visual impact analyses would be 48 km (30 mi), that the facilities would be unlikely to be missed by casual observers at up to 32 km (20 mi), and that the facilities could be major sources of visual contrast at up to 16 km (10 mi). Results will be stored in a Web-enabled database. 4
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Page 1 and 2: The submitted manuscript has been c
Page 3: Acknowledgments Argonne National La
Page 7 and 8: evaluating potential impacts on the
Page 9 and 10: to the naked eye in conditions of v
Page 11 and 12: Subsequent evaluations of the visua
Page 13 and 14: weather, or when conditions of stro
Page 15 and 16: turbines, built in two phases (66 i
Page 17 and 18: Table 2. Visibility rating form ins
Page 19 and 20: 2) Solar Azimuth: The solar azimuth
Page 21 and 22: Wind Turbine Blade Motion Maximum V
Page 23 and 24: observation of the Cedar Creek wind
Page 25 and 26: Figure 2. Cedar Creek wind facility
Page 27 and 28: Figure 6. Westernmost Seven Mile Hi
Page 29 and 30: viewpoint, and could distort the di
Page 31 and 32: Figure 9. Average visibility rating
Page 33 and 34: Reported Factors Contributing to Vi
Page 35 and 36: trails. It is reasonable and approp
Page 37 and 38: It should be noted that average vis
Page 39 and 40: Figure 13. Dunlap wind energy facil
Page 41 and 42: Using the conservative estimates ba
Page 43 and 44: several times in the course of the
Page 45 and 46: VI. References Apex Wind Energy. 20
Page 47: Scottish Government. 2011. Onshore

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