Land Cover and Topography Affect the Land Transformation Caused by Wind Facilities

Land transformation (ha of surface disturbance/MW) associated with wind facilities shows wide variation in its reported values. In addition, no studies have attempted to explain the variation across facilities. We digitized land transformation at 39 wind facilities using high resolution aerial imagery. We then modeled the effects of turbine size, configuration, land cover, and topography on the levels of land transformation at three spatial scales. The scales included strings (turbines with intervening roads only), sites (strings with roads connecting them, buried cables and other infrastructure), and entire facilities (sites and the roads or transmission lines connecting them to existing infrastructure). An information theoretic modeling approach indicated land cover and topography were well-supported variables affecting land transformation, but not turbine size or configuration. Tilled landscapes, despite larger distances between turbines, had lower average land transformation, while facilities in forested landscapes generally had the highest land transformation. At site and string scales, flat topographies had the lowest land transformation, while facilities on mesas had the largest. The results indicate the landscape in which the facilities are placed affects the levels of land transformation associated with wind energy. This creates opportunities for optimizing wind energy production while minimizing land cover change. In addition, the results indicate forecasting the impacts of wind energy on land transformation should include the geographic variables affecting land transformation reported here.风力发电设施相关的土地转化（Land Transformation）水平（单位为每兆瓦装机对应的地表扰动公顷数）的报告值存在显著差异。此外，目前尚无研究尝试阐释不同风力设施间该指标的差异成因。研究团队通过高分辨率航空影像，对39座风力发电设施的土地转化情况进行了数字化量化。随后，研究针对三个空间尺度，建模分析了涡轮机（Turbine）尺寸、布局配置、土地覆被（Land Cover）及地形（Topography）对土地转化水平的影响。三个空间尺度分别为：串列尺度（仅包含风机与其间布设的道路）、场站尺度（包含连接各串列的道路、埋地电缆及其他配套基础设施）以及全设施尺度（包含所有场站，以及连接至现有基础设施的道路或输电线路）。基于信息论的建模方法显示，影响土地转化水平的显著变量为土地覆被与地形，而非涡轮机尺寸与布局配置。尽管耕作景观内的风机间距更大，但其平均土地转化水平却更低；而位于林地景观中的风力设施，其土地转化水平普遍最高。在场站与串列尺度下，平坦地形的土地转化水平最低，而台地（Mesa）上的风力设施则表现出最高的土地转化水平。研究结果表明，风力设施所处的景观类型，会显著影响风电开发伴随的土地转化水平。这为优化风电产能同时最大限度减少土地覆被变化提供了可行路径。此外，研究结果提示，在预测风电对土地转化的影响时，应纳入本文所提及的各类影响土地转化的地理变量。