Characteristics of recorded seismic vibrations near wind-turbines: potential as a seismic source

Wind turbines are known to produce seismic vibrations over large distances. While the main focus of seismic studies on wind-turbines has been to assess the impact of undesired seismic noise, with wind energy and subsurface storage development on the rise, which may be potentially co-located, there is new interest in the use of seismic vibrations from wind turbines as a seismic source to monitor the subsurface. With this objective in mind, we acquired data near a wind-turbine on-land and analysed the seismic ambient recordings under different wind and wind-turbine operation conditions. Using the continuous ambient recordings, we consequently extracted the impulse response between sensors and measured the dispersive properties of surface waves below 10Hz. The surface wave dispersion observations are in agreement with results from an active seismic experiment using an explosive source in the same area. Our results suggest the wind-turbine may be used to characterize the subsurface and potentially monitor the subsurface. This is the first step in understanding the applicability and limitations of wind-turbines as a seismic source for subsurface monitoring.