WindScape - Wind Mapping Technology
To be effective, wind mapping technology must cover vast areas, typically the size of complete states or even countries. At the same time resolution is important, as topographic features that accelerate the wind to economic levels can be hidden in low resolution mapping. WindScape is a broad area high resolution wind mapping system that is capable of mapping vast areas at a resolution of 100m or better. Originally developed by Windlab scientists while they were with the Australian scientific organization CSIRO and then extensively developed in-house, the software uses as its starting point inputs from weather data collected around the world.
Atmospheric data – wind speed, wind direction, temperature and humidity – are measured across the globe at 6 hourly intervals. To arrive at a fully 3-dimensional picture of the atmosphere, this data is collected not only at the surface but during balloon ascents that reach heights of up to 20km – in excess of 2000 balloon flights per day around the globe!
This metrological data is then used to construct a picture of the atmosphere for the whole world on a 1/2 x 1/2 degree grid of latitude and longitude. Long-term archives of this data, serve as a starting point for use of sophisticated computer models to determine the wind climate anywhere across the globe, at very high resolution.