Google Earth Lab

Here is my summary of my Process Summary (The complete version was turned in via Dropbox):

Site Selection Justification

The reason I chose the site I did was to get a steady stream of electricity while minimizing impact on local residents.   Some of the factors I had to consider were wind speed, Ornithology, Noise, Shadow Flicker, Shipping Impact, and Landscape and Visual Impact.

The site I chose was near Harbor Beach, Michigan.     I chose this site by researching some of the buoys located here :  http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/EastGL.shtml  

I noticed that the area near Buoy HRBM4 had good wind generation based on the previous 45 days’ worth of data (was generating over the 5 m/s needed over 52 percent of the time).   I also noticed that slightly north of this area, there is a lot of forested land that is a good distance away from local residents.   In researching the town, I noticed that they pride themselves on being the home of the world’s largest man made harbor, so it shows the residents are open to the idea of harvesting the environment,.

I also researched some of the migration paths of birds (there will be some impact on all species in the great lakes area.   It is important to make that known and debate the impact before proceeding with the project. 

I also researched the impact of noise and shadow flicker and determined that this will be mitigated somewhat by the distance to populated areas as well as the vegetation.  Shipping lines should not be impacted as the primary lanes are over 20 miles offshore.

Landscape and visual impact should not be affected too negatively.   I think that the wind farm could actually serve as a tourist destination for teaching schools how a community has helped mold their environment to harvest the natural resources of wind (this new facility) and water (The world’s largest man-made harbor)

Here is the map of the location:

And zoomed out further to see location: