Infrasound of a Wind Turbine Reanalyzed as Power Spectrum and Power Spectral Density

TL;DR

This paper reanalyzes wind turbine infrasound data, correcting previous measurements to sound pressure levels and power, revealing that infrasound levels are significantly below human hearing thresholds at 200 meters.

Contribution

It provides a corrected reanalysis of infrasound measurements using power spectrum and spectral density, clarifying previous data interpretations.

Findings

Infrasound levels are about 34 dB lower than previously reported.

Measured infrasound levels are below human hearing threshold at 200 m.

Reanalysis offers more accurate assessment of wind turbine infrasound impact.

Abstract

The infrasound levels due to the blade-tower interaction generated by a wind turbine in the publication by Pilger and Ceranna (JSV, Vol. 388, pp. 188-200, 2017) have to be corrected to be interpreted as sound pressure level. Also, the electrical power of the wind turbine should be corrected for the high wind case to 660 kW. We provide a reanalysis of the measured data with a power spectrum showing levels for the low-frequency signal of the wind turbine about 34 dB below the original work. All measured levels at a distance of 200 m from the wind turbine's infrasound signal are well below the hearing threshold.