Peak Spatial Enterprises
SILVERSPHERE ENERGY SITING TOOLKIT USER’S GUIDE
Royal Koepsell 04/01/2015
SilverSphere User Guide Page 1
CONTENTS
The SilverSphere System ............................................................................................................................................... 3
SilverSphere’s Architecture ........................................................................................................................................... 3
PeakVue –View-only Access to SilverSphere ............................................................................................................. 5
PeakPortfolio – Development Details and Assessments ........................................................................................... 7
PeakAccess - Customer Access and User Setup ......................................................................................................... 9
Setting up Projects/Sites/Turbines .............................................................................................................................. 11
Adding Projects ........................................................................................................................................................ 11
Adding Sites (Modified for v1.1) .............................................................................................................................. 14
Adding Turbines ....................................................................................................................................................... 16
Uploading a Turbine CSV file. .............................................................................................................................. 16
Adding a Single Wind Turbine.............................................................................................................................. 17
Editing the Project/Site/Turbine Database .............................................................................................................. 20
Editing Site Geometry .............................................................................................................................................. 21
Conduct Assessments .................................................................................................................................................. 22
Radar Viewsheds ..................................................................................................................................................... 22
Radar Assessment (Modified for Vsn 1.1) ............................................................................................................... 25
Find Nearby Radars .............................................................................................................................................. 26
Find Turbines Visible to Radars ........................................................................................................................... 27
Run Radar Model ................................................................................................................................................. 28
Radar Score ...................................................................................................................................................... 29
Probability of Detection ................................................................................................................................... 30
Shadowing ....................................................................................................................................................... 31
False Plots ........................................................................................................................................................ 31
Combined Results ............................................................................................................................................ 31
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THE SILVERSPHERE SYSTEM
The SilverSphere Energy Siting Toolkit provides users the ability to enter, visualize, analyze and share siting details
and constraints for their wind energy projects. The toolkit architecture allows client’s to add and edit project, site,
and individual turbine details and to use assessment tools to analyze those project details against constraints that
the project may encounter.
The toolkit includes secured project database, geographic mapping, and constraint assessment tools that a user
may access at any time, from virtually any location, using web browsers to access this functionality. Every
corporate subscription includes a unique and secure URL access for the client and can be scaled to the number of
projects/sites that a client requires.
SilverSphere users control access to their projects and can create, modify, and delete users as needed through a
project’s development lifecycle. A user can provide view only access to project information or provide select team
members with the ability to modify project details. This insures that the developer not only controls access to
their project information but also provides flexibility and immediate project information sharing among the client’s
development team and others with whom they might want to share project information.
SILVERSPHERE’S ARCHITECTURE
The SilverSphere toolkit operates as a unique client system accessible via web browsers and connected to secure
servers and applications maintained and operated by Peak Spatial Enterprises. Peak Spatial configures a user’s
basic components and provides the initial URLs for access to a user’s specific installation of the toolkit. Access to
the toolkit is controlled by the client and project information is secured in client protected databases within the
system. A client can establish multiple users with different access/privilege settings to allow collaborative access
and updates to the client projects.
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A SilverSphere toolkit installation includes customer specific:
PeakAccess site to establish and control system access,
SilverSphere home page with PeakVue and PeakPortfolio access, and
SilverSphere login page.
Unique client URL’s to these pages are provided as part of a SilverSphere installation and all tools provided with
the installation are available to a customer for unlimited use during the period of a subscription.
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PEAKVUE –VIEW-ONLY ACCESS TO SILVERSPHERE
The PeakVue access to SilverSphere provides “view-only” access to a client’s project/site/turbine information.
PeakVue’s layout includes a Control frame, a Map frame, and a Gridview frame.
The Control Frame of PeakVue allows users the ability to filter what they see in the Map and Gridview frames by
filtering for a particular project/site, to perform limited mapping functions, and to select/deselect geographic data
layers using a legend. Tabs in the Control Frame allow a user to Filter for specific projects and sites, access the
legend, and to use simple map tools.
The Map Tools tab provides a PeakVue user simple map tools to measure distance in the Map Frame and to also
determine rough proximity of a objects within the Map Frame by using a simple Buffer tool that draws a circle with
a user selected radius on the Map Frame.
Control Frame - PeakVue Map Frame – PeakVue
Gridview Frame - PeakVue
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The Legend tab provides a user the ability to select/deselect items from the Map Frame using a table of contents
type interface. A user checks on or off the layers of information that they desire to display.
Note: The Map Tools and Legend tabs in PeakVue are the equivalent tabs and functionality found in the
PeakPortfolio Control Frame.
The Map Frame displays the geographic locations of projects, sites, and turbines as well as geographic data layers
selected in the legend. The Map Frame also interacts with the Control Frame Filters, Map Tools and Legend
components by zooming to the particular projects, sites, and turbines selected, displaying distance and buffer
areas, and changing map layers. Some objects within the Map Frame can be queried by clicking on the object in
the Map Frame.
The Gridview Frame provides details about the Project/Site/Turbines selected in the Control frame and provides
read only access to database information about the project that entered by the client.
Project/Site/Turbine data visible in PeakVue is dynamically connected with any additions, edits, or deletions made
by other client users who have PeakPortfolio access. This provides all toolkit users who have view only access to
projects to get up to date information about the projects. By dynamically linking project updates within the
system, the SilverSphere toolkit user base has a definitive “truth” database about the details of every project, site,
and turbine in the system.
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PEAKPORTFOLIO – DEVELOPMENT DETAILS AND ASSESSMENTS
PeakPortfolio provides access to complete project data entry, editing, and assessment functions. This component
of the toolkit shares similar map visualization of projects, sites and turbines as PeakVue and adds the ability to
modify projects and conduct assessments of projects against constraints (radar in the current version).
PeakPortfolios’s layout includes a Control frame, a Map frame, and a Gridview frame similar to PeakVue.
The Control Frame of PeakPortfolio allows users the ability to add, edit, and delete projects, sites and turbines.
The Control frame replaces the “Filter” tab in PeakVue with a “Projects/Sites”, “Turbine Placement”, and
“Turbines” tabs. The Map Controls and Legend tabs operate as they do for the PeakVue component. Filtering of
Project/Sites is performed in the “Projects/Sites” tab. This moves a user to a specific project/site location in the
map view and sets up PeakPortfolio to add, edit, delete, or perform assessments on the selected project/site.
Control Frame - PeakPortfolio Map Frame - PeakPortfolio
Gridview and Assessments Frame - PeakPortfolio
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The Projects/Sites tab also provides a user access to prior assessments performed for the selected project/site and
it serves as the location where new projects and sites are added to the system. (See adding projects/sites/turbines
below) The Turbine Placement tab of the Control Frame allows a user to add a single turbine or multiple turbines
to a project and site. The Turbines tab in the Control frame provides a table of all turbine details available for any
project/site selected by the user. The table includes “Select” and “Map” links that highlight a pull up details about
the turbine in the Gridview and centers the Map Frame on the turbine respectively.
The Map Frame displays the geographic locations of projects, sites, and turbines as well as geographic data layers
selected in the legend. The Map Frame also interacts with the Filters by zooming to the particular projects, sites,
and turbines selected, the Map Tools for displaying distance and buffer areas, and Legend selections made in the
Control Frame. Some objects within the Map Frame can be queried by clicking on the object in the Map Frame.
The Gridview Frame of PeakPortfolio provides access and read/write privileges to Project, Site, and Turbine details
selected from the Control frame under the “Edit Data” tab. The Gridview Frame also provides the user access to
the full range of project assessment options which are accessed under the “Assessments” tab.
Project/Site/Turbine data visible in PeakVue are dynamically connected with any additions, edits, or deletions
made by other client users who have PeakPortfolio access. This provides all toolkit users who have view only
access to projects to get up to date information about the projects. By dynamically linking project updates within
the system, the SilverSphere toolkit user base an authoritative “truth” database about the details of every project,
site, and turbine in the system.
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PEAKACCESS - CUSTOMER ACCESS AND USER SETUP
PeakAccess provides every client with the ability to establish user access to the client’s SilverSphere functions. The
tool operates as a separate and unique site for the client and is typically accessible to the client’s administrator.
A client logs on to PeakAccess by going to the unique URL established for the client. The client logs in, selects the
Admin button in the upper right of the screen, and opens the PeakAccess control screen.
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The PeakAccess control screen includes the tools used by the corporate administrator of the client’s SilverSphere
account to create, edit, and delete users of the tool. The corporate administrator can rapidly look at all users on
the system based on the roles that they have been given (upper left frame) which populates the bottom frame
with the specific user access information. This information shows information about the users’ access and also
provides the administrator the ability to “Select” a particular user and edit their username, password, and access
information. This editing function takes place in the upper right frame of PeakAccess.
The upper right frame provides the data entry and update functions used by the corporate administrator to add,
change, delete, or suspend access for individual users.
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SETTING UP PROJECTS/SITES/TURBINES
Adding, editing, and deleting projects, sites and turbines are fundamental capabilities of PeakPortfolio that a user
will use to visualize and assess energy developments. These functions are are only accessible to users who have
been given access to PeakPortfolio by their company’s lead administrator of the tool via PeakAccess.
New projects, sites and turbines are added from the Control Frame of PeakPortfolio. The hierarchy of setting up
and deleting projects follows a project, site, and turbine approach. A new project must be in place before a site
can be added and a site must be in place before turbines can be added.
The basic steps for setting up projects follow a sequence of:
1. Add Project
2. Add Site to Project
3. Add Turbines to Site
These steps are described in the following paragraphs.
ADDING PROJECTS
A project is defined as a geographic point that a user establishes to identify a general location for one or more sites
and turbines within those sites.
A user adds a new project by selecting the Projects/Sites tab in the Control Frame and selecting the “Place Project”
button. This activates the user’s cursor when placed over the Map Frame where the user selects the location of
the Project. The latitude and longitude of a project are automatically entered in the Control Frame’s Project
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latitude and longitude when the user clicks the location of the project in the map frame. A red crosshair icon is
placed at the location of the project.
If the user is satisfied that the project location is placed correct they then select the Add Project button. The
Gridview frame will open the project database entry for the selected Project and the user enters all data
associated with the project making sure to enter data in those fields that are highlighted with “Required Field”
notations.
The only “Required Field” for Projects is the Project Name
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Once the data is entered the user selects the Insert button and the data will be entered into the client database for
this project.
REFRESH the browser – at this point, the project is entered in the database. The map display however, may not
show the new project due to browser operations. A user should refresh the browser and the new project will not
only be accessible via the Project pulldown in the Control Frame but a Project icon (red star) will appear on the
map at the new project location. The user will also be able to select the icon and see a summary of information
about the project in the maptips viewer.
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ADDING SITES (MODIFIED FOR V1.1)
Change Note – Version 1.1 eliminates the requirement for a user to draw a site geometry/boundary as part of
initial site setup. A site must still be established in order to add turbine details but the only required data
element for a site is the Site Name. A site geometry/boundary can be manually entered by a user but, in the
absence of that geometry, the turbine locations will provide the boundary definitions for assessments and
analysis. The site boundary, if not manually entered, is calculated as a convex hull around the turbines
associated with a site.
A site is a subset of a project and can be defined by a geographic polygon created automatically around turbines
or, optionally, established/drawn by the user outlining the geographic extent of a particular development. A
project typically includes one site but additional sites can be added, over time, to a project. Note: SilverSphere is
deployed for users and is set to accommodate a user selected number of sites. A site is the level at which
assessments typically are performed and for which reports and output files are created. A SilverSphere account
may have one or more sites and can be modified by Peak Spatial to support additional sites if desired.
The first step required in adding a Site is to select a Project that has already been established by the user. A
Project is selected using the pulldown menu under Projects in the “Projects/Sites” tab of the Control Frame.
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To add a new or additional Site for a Project, a user selects the Add Site button from the Control Frame Note – the
Add Site section is below the Add New Project section of the Control Frame and may not be visible – user the
Control Frame slider bar on the right of the frame to get to the Add Site functions. If the Add Site button is “greyed
out” it’s because a Project has not been selected or the number of sites that your account allows has been
exceeded.
Selecting the Add Site button opens the Gridview frame with the site database parameters available for data entry.
Just as was done in the Projects data entry, a user can fill out as many of the database fields as they know paying
particular attention to adding the “Required Fields”. A user is only required to enter a Site Name to define the Site
for Version 1.1. When all attributes are added for the Site, select the “Insert” button and the Site will be entered
into the database.
Optional Place Site Button - Version 1.1 includes the option of a Place Site button which activates the cursor on the
map frame to draw a geographic boundary. When this button is selected, the user moves the computer cursor to
the map frame and positions the cursor at a point on the map that corresponds to a corner of the desired site. The
user draws the outline of the site using this approach and ends the drawing by double-clicking the last corner point
of the site to complete the polygon definition of the site. If this site position and shape are correct, the user then
goes back to the Control Frame and clicks on the “Add Site” button.
Once a site is successfully added to a Project and the browser has been refreshed, a user will then see the Project
and Site as selectable options in the
Project/Site pulldown menus in the Control
Frame. When a user selects a particular
project after logging in to the system, the
Map Frame will zoom to the Project and
when the user then selects a specific Site
under that Project, the Map Frame will zoom
to the particular site. This Site is now ready
to accept turbine placement.
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ADDING TURBINES
Adding turbines to a Project/Site location is accomplished via the “Turbine Placement” tab in the Control Frame
and can be accomplished either by uploading wind turbines from a previously prepared comma separated value
(CSV) file or by placing a single turbine using the “Place Wind Turbine” button.
The fastest method of adding wind turbines is the CSV file approach, especially in situations where wind
development plans have been previously laid out based on wind resource assessments and other factors. By using
the downloadable .csv file included in the “Turbine Placement” tab, a user can rapidly modify the file with specific
development wind turbine details and upload an entire wind development with one click of a mouse.
If a developer is in the early stages of a project and wants to get a simple assessment of a turbine or two in a
particular location, then the “Add a Single Turbine” option might work best.
Either method allows a user to populate a selected Project/Site with turbines and postures the Project/Site for
detailed constraint and site assessment.
The complexity of adding turbines to a Site involves adding the necessary data in Required Fields elements of the
turbine database. Because the physical dimensions and locations of the turbines are included in a number of
detailed analyses, there are more required data elements to enter. This is another reason that, for large projects
with already established turbine types and locations, uploading this information via the csv file approach is the
fastest and most reliable method.
Required data fields for Turbines include:
Turbine Type ID
Tower Type ID
Latitude (decimal degrees)
Longitude (decimal degrees)
Elevation (meters)
Hub Height (meters)
Swept Area (square meters)
Steps to add turbines to a project/site:
1. Login to SilverSphere and Select PeakPortfolio
2. Select the Project and Site that you want to add Turbines from the Project/Sites Tab
3. Select the Turbine Placement tab
4. Select either Upload Wind Turbines or Add a Single Turbine
5. Follow procedures for uploading that may include adding required fields in the Gridview Frame
6. Save and exit any Turbine addition operations
7. Refresh the browser
8. Reselect the Project/Site where turbines were added
UPLOADING A TURBINE CSV FILE.
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Once a Project and Site have been entered into a client’s database, adding multiple turbines using the CSV file
approach is very simple.
The time involved in this upload is the
creation of the detailed information for
the CSV file. A blank file can be
downloaded from the SilverSphere site
at any time and a client needs only to
enter the required turbine data fields in
the form and re-save it as a CSV file.
Once saved, the client just selects the
Choose File button which takes a client to your file structure, where you select the desired CSV file. After selecting
the file, a user selects the “Upload File” button and the system will upload the CSV file to the client’s database and
will automatically check to ensure that the upload was successful and will also automatically refresh the screen. If
the file is successfully uploaded, a user can now go to the Project/Site and will see the turbines in the map and will
also be able to select the Turbines tab in the Control View to see the turbine details just loaded. At this point every
turbine loaded in the fashion are available for editing and updating as part of the project.
ADDING A SINGLE WIND TURBINE
The addition of individual wind turbines is also a simple process . This process follows the same general steps that
are required for the CSV file upload but uses the SilverSphere PeakPortfolio interfaces to enter turbine details.
Before any individual turbines can be
entered into the system, a user must
already have created a Project and
Site. To add a turbine to a Site the
user must first navigate to the
particular Project/Site of interest and
then select the Turbine Placement tab
in the Control View and, using the
Add a Single Wind Turbine section of
the view, select the “Place Wind
Turbine” button and move the cursor
to the Map Frame and click on the
location within the site where the turbine will be placed. Note: if the “Place Wind Turbine” button is greyed out
it’s because you have not selected a specific Project and Site.
Once you click on a location on the Map Frame, the latitude, longitude, and elevation of that point will be
registered in the “Add a Single Wind Turbine” fields and you will then be able click the “Add Turbine” button to
add that turbine to the database. If the location is not correct, all a user need do is select the “Cancel” button and
start again.
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When the “Add Turbine” button is selected, the initial location and elevation information for that turbine is placed
into the database and the Turbine editing function opens in the Gridview Frame with the database entry elements
available to populate. At this point a user selects the Turbine type, Tower Type, Hub Height and Swept Area
elements to complete the initial required data entry. When those elements are added to the database a user
selects the “Insert” button at the top of the Gridview Frame and the turbine data is entered into the database.
Once this is complete, this individual turbine has been added to this Project/Site and is available for more detailed
assessment and data element editing as may be needed.
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.
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EDITING THE PROJECT/SITE/TURBINE DATABASE
SilverSphere operates as an online database of project information. Most user entered Project information can be
edited within the GridView frame by selecting the Edit Data tab.
A user with read/write privileges (as defined in PeakAccess) can edit the information in SilverSphere. The Project,
Site, and Turbine data entered in the system can be edited in PeakPortfolio by selecting a Project/Site/Turbine in
the Control Frame and then selecting Edit Data and the appropriate tab in the Gridview Frame.
To edit a Project, a specific Project must be selected in the Control Frame. To edit a Site and Turbines a particular
Site must be selected. Turbine editing is accomplished after selecting a particular Project/Site and opening the
Turbines tab in the Control Frame. The Turbines tab lists all turbines in a Site and allows a user to Select a
particular turbine or choose a Map hyperlink to highlight on the map the specific turbine selected.
Choosing the Select link on the left of any particular turbine opens that particular turbine in the GridView Frame
and, by selecting Edit Turbine, the details of that turbine are opened for editing and updating.
Note: If a user wants to make bulk edits to a large project it will likely be easier to download the turbine data for a
site, edit the particular field of interest in Excel or other spreadsheet program, and then reload all turbines at once.
This works particularly well for changing tower types, turbine models, swept areas and so on. For every editing
function, a user must always select either Update or Cancel buttons in the GridView Frame prior to exiting the
editing function. All edits are finalized when the Update button is selected. The newly revised information is
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immediately accessible to other contributors who are working on the project.
EDITING SITE GEOMETRY
Note: Version 1.1 only requires the Site Name to establish a Site. Version 1.0 required that a user create a
bounding box/geometry around the site. The new implementation allows turbines to be added after a Site has
been established and named and provides the user the ability to draw Site boundaries later. This editing function
is accessed through the GridView Edit Data tab. A user selects the Project/Site of interest in the Control Frame and
then the Edit Data / Site tabs in the GridView Frame.
Selecting the Site tab and the Edit
button opens the Site details in the
database. Site geometry is controlled in
the “Site Boundary on Map” line of the
database. This line now includes “Begin
Edits” and “Save Edits” buttons. To
either Create or Edit a site boundary, a
user need only select the “Begin Edits”
function and follow the same procedure
as creating site boundaries in the Optional Place Site capability described in the Adding Sites paragraph.
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CONDUCT ASSESSMENTS
Assessments are conducted primarily on established Projects/Sites/Turbines. The current version of SilverSphere
offers two types of Radar analyses to support basic site analysis through detailed turbine to turbine impacts on
radars.
Both analyses produce output that can support a user’s project siting and permitting processes.
The two radar assessment processes are the Radar Viewshed and the Radar Line of Sight analysis.
RADAR VIEWSHEDS
The radar viewshed is an assessment that is not specifically tied to a users’ Project/Site locations. The viewshed
tool produces detailed but general landscape assessments anywhere in contiguous United States. This geographic
scope can be extended to other countries with the caveat that a client must specify locations and general types of
radars that they may confront in their development. The basic viewshed tool for US users includes all 319
surveillance and terminal radars and their basic performance parameters.
The Radar Viewshed assessment is accessed in the Gridview Frame of PeakPortfolio.
Selecting the Radar Viewshed assessment tab opens the tool in the Gridview frame. Performing a viewshed
assessment requires selecting the following input:
a desired “buffer” distance for radar identification around the location, and
a location on the map,
a desired height above ground level of the target (turbine, tower, building)
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The screen shot above shows that a user has selected a buffer distance of 75 miles, selected a buffer center point
by using “Select point for Viewshed” button, and established a target height above ground of 350 feet.
After a user selects the buffer distance and center point in the Map Frame, the Viewshed assessment tool
identifies all radars found within that buffer distance around the selected point. In this example, the tool found
two Terminal (airport) radars and one Surveillance radar within the buffer. Those radars are highlighted on the
map and in the Gridview assessment frame. The last step in performing the viewshed assessment is to simply click
on the “Compute Viewshed” button.
This initiates the assessment ending in the production of viewsheds for each of the radars found in the particular
assessment based on the selected Target Height and the general radar performance/pointing parameters for each
type of radar found in the buffer. The radar viewshed incorporates the generally accepted practice of a 4/3rds
earth radius to accommodate refraction and earth curvature. The underlying elevation data is SRTM data sampled
at 1 arcsecond resolution (approximately 30m) with a vertical error of +/- 16m. The end result of this particular
viewshed assessment is shown in the figure below. The viewshed display includes different color viewshed
response based on whether an area is “seen” by one or more radars. The light blue color indicates that one radar
sees that geography, light purple that two radars see the geography, and darker purple shows that all three radars
for this particular assessment can see the geography.
Note: While not specifically tied to a particular Project/Site, this Map Frame image shows a previously entered
Project and Site in the lower part of the image. If the objects in that Project/Site location are 350 feet tall (the
setting for this particular viewshed example) one of the radars would be able to “see” those objects.
Radar IDs within the buffered distance and a “viewshed” map showing the geographic extent of a radar’s physical
viewshed of anything that projects above the surface of the earth at the desired height. If multiple radars are
found in the buffer, the viewshed tool produces and overlaps multiple viewsheds in the viewer.
Output from the Radar Viewshed Assessment
The Radar Viewshed creates output that can be seen dynamically in the Map Frame and can also produce and
export Shapefiles for integration and use in geographic analysis tools and frameworks external to SilverSphere. Of
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course, a simple screenshot of the Map Frame can also produce an image file such as a JPEG or PNG file that can
be easily imported into a document or presentation.
Note: As of 8 October, the Viewshed tool produces multiple viewsheds as described above but only displays the
last radar processed in the Map Frame. This peculiarity is the result of creating unique shapefile outputs for each
radar assessed. The viewsheds are produced but packaged for external use. To visualize all viewsheds in the Map
Viewer, the user should select the smallest buffer size in the assessment tool and select the assessment point next
to the radar of interest. This will produce a single viewshed for that radar and it will be displayed in the viewer. To
show another radar viewshed, initiate a new assessment and again select a small buffer and point on the map next
to the next radar of interest and run the viewshed again. This will create and display the viewshed of this specific
radar in the Map Frame.
Note: the Radar Viewshed buffer circle displayed in the Map Frame can be removed by selecting the “Clear
Graphics” button in the Map Tools tab of the Control Frame.
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RADAR ASSESSMENT (MODIFIED FOR VSN 1.1)
Change Note – Version 1.1 eliminates the Radar Line of Sight (LOS) assessment and replaces the functionality
with the Radar Assessment Tab. Radar Assessment includes identification of radars and line of sight as available
in Version 1.0 and adds the computation of detailed wind development/wind turbine geometries and new Radar
Score. The proprietary Radar Score includes the geometry and the radar technical impact as computed by the
SilverSphere radar model.
The Radar Assessment tool that produces detailed radar – turbine impacts for client project and site details. This
tool computes a number of key parameters that ultimately determine a wind development’s Radar Score for each
radar visible to turbines in a development. The Radar Assessment is accessed in the Gridview Frame of
PeakPortfolio.
The Radar Assessment consists of multiple steps that:
Identify radars within possible range of a Project/Site
Draw sight/visibility lines from all radars to each individual turbine within a development
Assess visibility of all turbines to all radars at four different turbine locations – blade top, tower top, blade
bottom, and turbine base
Run a detailed radar model for the turbines within a Project/Site, based on the visibility parameters,
turbine parameters, and radar types, to calculate radar impacts caused by turbines and
Calculates a Radar Score for selected radars visible to a development
Produces Line of Sight shapefile and Radar Model CSV file output for selected assessment results
Note – The Radar Assessment is specifically tied to the selection of an existing project and site that has at least one
turbine at the site.
Conducting a Radar Assessment requires selection of Project and Site, in the Control Frame, as input.
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Radar Assessments steps include:
Find Nearby Radars
Find Turbines Visible to Radars and
Run Radar Model
These steps are activated sequentially as a user walks through and assessment.
FIND NEARBY RADARS
This initial step of the Line of Sight assessment quickly determines radars that may be in range of a selected
Project/Site. A user simply selects the “Find Nearby Radars” button and SilverSphere performs a quick 75 mile
proximity search around the turbines of the site and returns the ID numbers for radars found, identifies the found
radars with a cyan diamond on the map, populates a pull down menu to select the radar ID number to analyze, and
activates the “Find Turbines Visible to Radars” button. If no radars are within range of the project/site the system
will return a message in the assessment frame.
Select Project/Site for the Radar
Line of Sight Assessment
Step One button activated
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FIND TURBINES VISIBLE TO RADARS
Step 2 of the Line of Sight Assessment requires the selection of a radar from the drop down menu between Steps 1
and 2. The radars are identified with a Radar ID number. The Radar IDs of the radars found in Step 2 can be
determined by clicking on the cyan diamond icons in the map viewer. A maptips box will open. The Radar ID is
one of the attributes displayed in the maptips.
Find Turbines Visible to Radars initiates a geoprocessing service that ultimately displays every turbine’s visibility to
the selected radar at four different turbine heights above the ground. The turbine heights are the base of the
turbine, the bottom of the blade, the top of the tower, and the top of the blade. These visibility points provide the
basic information needed by the radar model to determine the impact of the turbines on the selected radar’s
probability of detection and shadowing evaluations.
This process typically takes place in approximately 90 to 120 seconds but depends on the number of turbines in a
development. Step 2 completes with the drawing of sight lines from the selected radar to each of the turbines in
the development. The sight line is depicted as a green/red line connecting the radar and turbine. The green
segment of the line indicates that the ground is not seen and the red segment of the line indicates where the radar
line would hit the ground. This distinction isn’t particularly critical for the turbines since they are measured at the
height above the ground. The turbine visibility to the radar is depicted by icons. Turbine Visibility is shown by the
following color/icons:
Red – Base of Turbine or Blade Bottom
Orange – Tower Top
Yellow – Blade Top
No Icon – Not Visible
Step One Complete
Radars Returned and Step 2
Button Activated
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RUN RADAR MODEL
The final and most detailed step of the Radar Assessment is the computation of the Radar Score for the selected
Project/Site and the radar selected in Step 2. The Radar Model is a highly complex model that calculates the
impact of the wind turbines of a project on the selected radar’s technical performance.
Once the Run Radar Model button is selected the input parameters are sent to the SilverSphere servers and the
model run is initiated. This model run operates offline and can take a considerable amount of time depending on
the number of turbines in a development. The system provides an estimate of time expected for the calculation of
the detailed radar results and the Check Status button is available to check on the model run. The status options
are simply, Submitted, Executing, or Completed with the date/time of the initiation.
Note: Since the model runs completely offline on the SilverSphere servers, a user can log out of the system and
work on other projects. When they log back in to the system they can check the status of the Assessment by
selecting the Project/Site in the Control Frame and selecting the Assessment ID. There is a Check Status Prior
Assessments menu in the Control Frame that will
return the information about the process. If the
process in complete, the radar results will be
loaded in the Radar Assessment tab of the
Gridview Frame.
The radar model calculates a number of key
performance impacts on the radar based on the
presence of potential wind turbines with particular attributes. The primary site information associated with the
assessment includes detailed range, angles, radar range bin sizes at a turbine location, areal measurements of the
wind development and maximum and minimum distances and angular ranges for turbines within the
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development. Specific radar-turbine
calculations are made to determine the
impact a turbine has on the particular radar’s1
probability of detection, shadowing, and
potential to induce false plots.
The Radar Assessment results include five
tabs; the Radar Score, Probability of
Detection, Shadowing, False Plots, and
Combined Results
RADAR SCORE
The Radar Score tab provides the site’s Radar Score for the selected radar as well as general site and radar
information.
This Radar Score, based on a possible 500 point total, provides at once a detailed, comprehensive, and consistent
assessment of your project’s impact on radars within range of your development. This knowledge provides a
consistent score for your project while highlighting specific turbine’s impact on radars. The scoring methodology
includes detailed
Site geometry and development scope/size; distance, angular range, areal extent
1 The SilverSphere radar model includes specific terminal(airport) and air surveillance radars. Current radars
modeled include ASR9 and ASR11 terminal radars and CARSR(FPS66/67, ARSR 1, 2,and 3) and ARSR4 surveillance radars
SilverSphere User Guide Page 30
Radar performance impact based on turbine/tower visibility at seven altitudes against three target sizes with
respect to radars (CARSR, ARSR, ASR9/11),
Wind turbine shadowing for three target sizes and four distances behind each turbine
Modeled after the credit score approach, each development receives a technically consistent score that
government assessment organizations can use to begin their operational assessment of impacts. While not a
guarantee of project approval, the score captures a high degree of detail about a site’s potential impact, saving you
and the government, time analyzing project details and reacting to design changes.
PROBABILITY OF DETECTION
The Probability of Detection tab in the Radar Assessment includes the calculation of the impact for every turbine in
the development and its impact on the selected radar calculated at seven different altitudes and for three
different radar target sizes2. The probability of detection values in the cells of the tables provide a numeric
percentage and color indicator of the impact of the turbine on the design expectations of the radar without the
turbine present. The areal impact of these Pd degradation values are further refined by the size of the range bin
and adjacent range bins where the degradation occurs. Each line of the table describes one radar-turbine pair.
Along the top of the table are the altitude choices and across the top of each table are the target sizes and range
bin or adjacent range bin column headers.
The “Map” highlight on the left side of this table and the tables that follow provide the
user the ability to visualize the radar-turbine pair for that line of the table. Selecting the
“Map” hyperlink turns on a dashed cyan line between the turbine and radar providing
useful information about which turbine(s) may be the most problematic from a radar
perspective.
2 Altitudes 500,1000,1500,3000,5000,10000,and 12000 meters, Target Sizes – 0.1, 2.2, and 30 square meters
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SHADOWING
The shadowing tab shows the impact that Project/Site turbines have on the radar. Shadowing is a phenomenon
that is strictly a function of the visibility of the turbine tower to the radar beam and the size of the target that
might be behind the turbines. The Radar Asssessment calculate the impact of shadowing by determining the
probability of detection behind the turbines for each size target at distance of 1000, 5000, 10000, and 15000
meters. The table shows both a numeric and color coded cell for these values.
FALSE PLOTS
The False Plots tab provides timing details of potential overlap between the rotation of the selected radar and the
RPM of the wind turbine. False plot potential is not included in the Radar Score but is provided here to show
timing components that may result in a false plot condition for a radar. The most likely false plot scenario for a
wind farm occurs when the leading or trailing edge blade flash from a wind turbine coincides with the radar beam
sweeping over that turbine. Since all turbines in a wind farms present varying rotations to the radar, the potential
for false plots becomes a timing, orientation, and, ultimately, a probabilistic occurrence.
COMBINED RESULTS
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The Combined Results tab includes a tabular display of all of the radar model details for the selected Assessment.
This table is provided so that an output file can be exported to a csv file type and downloaded for use and analysis
in other applications. To download the results simply select the Export Detailed Results to CSV file icon.