On trees and wind turbines

ABSTRACT Wind-load estimations have been part of research on tree biomechanics and windthrow for several decades and are crucial for some safety assessment methods in commercial urban forestry and arboriculture. Examples of those methods are SIA, SIM, Finite Element Method, Dynatim and Arwilo. The goal of the present study was to see if an extremely simple mathematical model, based on stiff wind turbines, would be able to reproduce the results of some of those software packages. A model such as this, licence-free and at no cost, would be attractive to practitioners in their daily work. Simulation of, and comparison with, the commercial software was very satisfying. Agreement, with a correlation coefficient of 0.99, was almost perfect for more than 220 trees and a palm. Moreover, and as the correct interpretation of these methods is crucial, remarks are made too which can assist practitioners in their tree and palm risk assessments.