New Study: Wind Infrasound Validated

Ken Mattson et. al. have published a new study validating the significant impacts of large-scale wind turbines.

We present a high-fidelity simulation tool for accurate acoustic modeling across a wide range of applications. The numerical method is based on diagonal-norm Summation-By-Parts (SBP) finite-difference operators, which guarantee linear stability on piecewise curvilinear multi-block grids. Realistic three-dimensional atmospheric and topographic data are directly incorporated into the simulations, and the solver is implemented in CUDA to achieve high computational efficiency. Verification is performed through convergence studies against highly resolved benchmark problems in both two and three spatial dimensions, while validation is carried out using high-quality infrasound measurements from two modern wind farms in Sweden. The results show that modern, large-scale wind turbines generate infrasound levels significantly higher than those reported for older, smaller turbines. These findings advance the understanding of the acoustic characteristics of contemporary wind turbines and provide important guidance for assessing their potential environmental and societal impacts.

In the Introduction of the study, it is noted:

After these initial infrasound measurements, two of us experienced sleep disorders and migraine headaches. These symptoms appeared after being exposed to infrasound levels of just over 95 dB around the 1 Hz frequency band for at least 4 hours (see Fig. 7). Similar symptoms during infrasound measurements have been reported in [26]. It is well-known among specialists in otoneurology and otolaryngology that inaudible infrasound has the potential to trigger migraines in people with a more sensitive nervous system, for example, see [27], [28], [29]. One in three people is predisposed to migraines, with a more sensitive nervous system [30], [31]. The level of sensitivity is highly individual. There are new studies that link the impact of inaudible infrasound to brain activity [32], [33]. As early as 1985, Danielsson and Landström [34] showed that infrasound at levels of 95 dB during 1 h of exposure causes an increase in diastolic blood pressure and decreases in systolic blood pressure and pulse rate. More recent studies also show that many animals move more than 5 km from wind turbines, especially deer and birds.

Read the full study “Efficient finite difference modeling of infrasound propagation in realistic 3D domains: Validation with wind turbine measurements” here.