The implications for visual simulation and analysis of temporal variation in the visibility of wind turbines

Abstract

The visual impact of wind turbines is a central issue in their public acceptance. New wind farm proposals are commonly subject to visual simulation and visual impact assessment. Guidelines for both these processes are already used in a number of jurisdictions and there is widespread interest in making simulation and impact assessments as meaningful as possible. To a large degree the guidelines for both processes tend to be based on worst-case (full-frontal) conditions. There are two quite good reasons for this. Firstly, the worst-case sets a boundary for visual impact. Secondly, we seldom know enough about how visibility or visual impact changes over time and what ‘typical’ conditions are li..