Vaisala Energy Support
What affects wind at a given site?
Wind speed is determined by atmospheric conditions and terrain characteristics. Even in areas that are generally windy, local conditions may determine whether your wind resource is adequate or not. Wind speeds increase with increased height above the surface. In general, wind speeds are higher in wide open spaces, along ridgelines and near coastlines, where few obstructions interfere with air movement. Vegetation and land use also affect wind speed. For example, rough surfaces like forests reduce near-surface wind speed.
More Wind Online Tools Questions
- Which Wind Time Series dataset should I choose?
- 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?
- What does the Wind Speed Distribution Tool provide?
- Why do we show a +/- next to the annual value?
- What wind speeds are shown on the map?
- How can I compare sites side-by-side?
- What is a hub height?
- How do I change locations for individual tools?
- What makes a good wind resource?
- What do the colors on the map mean?
- What is the source of the information?
- How accurate are the Wind Prospecting Tools?
- Why does the map disappear?
- How was the 5 km global wind dataset created?
- Does 3TIER incorporate observational data?
- What were 3TIER's data validation procedures for the 5 km global wind dataset?
- What happened to 3TIER’s Reference Wind Time Series Product?
- 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.