Vaisala Energy Support
How was the data behind your map created?
Covering all continental and near-shore areas between 60° S and 70° N, 3TIER’s global wind dataset is the first high-resolution, wind resource assessment to use a consistent methodology across the entire globe. 3TIER, essentially, integrated statistical methods with the power of physically based numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, which simulate the interaction between the entire atmosphere and the earth’s surface, to create a more robust and accurate wind climatology. 3TIER's technique captures the myriad processes responsible for wind—from jet level dynamics to surface level processes and everything in between. 3TIER is able to create realistic wind fields throughout the world, with the results especially enlightening in regions where observations are not available.
3TIER’s NWP models are generated through computer simulations. The models use numerical methods to obtain approximate answers to mathematical equations that describe the physics and dynamics of the atmosphere. To solve these equations for different locations on the globe, the atmosphere is divided into many small elements, both horizontally and vertically. The model computes what happens within each model element and how much mass, energy, and momentum is exchanged between the model elements.
To resolve the effects of small-scale terrain features on near-surface wind speed and direction with the most precision, model elements must be kept small. Unfortunately, very small model elements require added computer time, and the problem quickly becomes too large even for today’s most advanced supercomputers. To strike a balance between the need to resolve small-scale terrain features and the need to reduce the computational demand, the dataset combines a number of different NWP model simulations. In addition, 3TIER used observational data to both calibrate and validate the final dataset.
More Wind Online Tools Questions
- Which Wind Time Series dataset should I choose?
- Can I demo the 90 M Wind Prospecting Tools?
- What wind speed is shown on the map?
- How do I enter a location?
- How do I interpret the graph provided by the Monthly Mean Wind Speed Tool?
- What does the Annual Mean Wind Speed Tool provide?
- How do I interpret the wind rose provided by the Annual Mean Wind Rose Tool?
- Why do we show a +/- next to the annual value?
- What does the Wind Speed Distribution Tool provide?
- What wind speeds are shown on the map?
- What affects wind at a given site?
- How can I compare sites side-by-side?
- How do I change locations for individual tools?
- What is a hub height?
- What makes a good wind resource?
- What is a wind resource assessment?
- What do the colors on the map mean?
- What is the source of the information?
- How accurate are the Wind Prospecting Tools?
- Which Internet browsers does the 3TIER website support?
- Why does the map disappear?
- What data has been created?
- Does 3TIER incorporate observational data?
- What were 3TIER's data validation procedures?
- What happened to 3TIER’s Reference Wind Time Series Product?
- Why is ERA-I available everywhere but not NNRP-D?
- I notice that sometimes ERA-I and NNRP-D disagree, by quite a bit, which one should I use?
- Why do all the various datasets have different start and end times?
- Doesn’t horizontal resolution matter? What about downscaling with weather models like WRF and MM5?
- Why are the long-term mean values of each data set so similar and why don’t they match the values I get when I download these data directly from the various global modeling centers?
If you didn't find what you were looking for, please contact 3TIER Support for additional assistance.