Wind atlases: a global perspective on wind resource assessment

Resource assessment

When: Thursday, 27 September 2018, 10:45 - 12:00
Where: Room: Bilbao

Session description

We have now come a long way since the introduction of the concept of a wind atlas in 1980 by Risø (now DTU). Using sophisticated theoretical models, coupled with high performance computers with virtually unlimited storage capacity and supported with prodigious quantities of observational data, we are now able to “predict” with varying degrees of accuracy the wind climate at any location on the planet’s surface. The challenge we now face is to refine our predictions to reduce their uncertainty and understand the limitations of the models.

Learning objectives

The audience will learn about the modelling methodology (including various input datasets: meteorological and terrain) behind the Global Wind Atlas;
An understanding of the shortcomings of mesoscale simulations to reproduce extreme winds;
The introduction of the spectral correction method as a possible solution to predicting extreme winds;
An understanding of the modelling challenges in areas where synoptic scale flow interacts with locally driven phenomena such as katabatic flow;
Learn how to combine observations and model data to overcome the limitations in the theoretical models.