Software and services
Raccourcis catalogue [EN]
Wind Atlas
Wind mapping at the scale of a region or a country
Onshore and offshore wind atlases
The wind energy development objectives set by the States are regularly revised upwards to achieve the objectives defined by the Paris Agreement. Meteodyn assists all stakeholders in designing wind atlases, regardless of their size or resolution.
Whether you are a wind farm developer or a local authority, the realization of a wind atlas will provide you with an accurate mapping of wind characteristics, such as its average speed (m/s). The goal is to efficiently identify the wind power potential of a territory and calculate its energy density (W/m²). The wind atlas is an essential decision-making tool both to determine the right locations for wind farms and to convince the population of the choices made.
Meteodyn - expert in wind engineering, climatology, and meteorology - has an extensive experience in the realization of wind atlases, in several regions of the world, onshore and offshore. This know-how, combined with the available HPC computing power, allows Meteodyn to meet all your needs.
Our experts are at your disposal to realize your wind atlases.
Wind atlas characteristics
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Available methods and resolutions
- WRF simulation: Mesoscale wind atlas with a spatial resolution down to 1km.
- Microscale simulation using CFD technology: Microscale wind atlas with free spatial resolution.
- Simulation with meso-micro-scale coupling: Wind atlas coupling mesoscale and microscale data with a spatial resolution ranging from 25m to 350m. Here, the mesoscale data are used to provide more details on the area’s thermal stability.
The results can be provided statistically or over time for a set of points defined separately from the mapping.
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Possible heights
Open. Multiple heights can be computed simultaneously.
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Possible directions
The computation step of the directions can be performed every 1° to 45°. The finer the defined degree, the more accurate the atlas results will be. Conversely, the greater the defined degree (e.g. 45°), the more coarse the results will be.
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Possible stability classes
Open or dependent on the chosen climatology.
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Computed variables within the Wind Atlas
Average and directional results.
- Wind speed,
- Weibull coefficients,
- Turbulence intensity,
- Shear,
- Incidence angle of the wind,
- Power density,
- Annual energy production considering the average rotor equivalent wind speeds (REWS) and the wake effect losses,
- Fifty-year wind (extreme wind),
- Load factor.
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Possible exports
WRG and RSF exports. The WRG export is preferred.
- Weibull coefficient A,
- Weibull coefficient K,
- Directional frequencies,
- Power Density or Production (wind speed deducted).
Methodology
1
Mapping strategy
Definition of a computational mapping strategy and its associated computing power by our engineers. The mapping can be divided into several sub-mappings via the multi-mapping tool of our Meteodyn WT software (Universe software suite) to facilitate processing, according to the size and resolution of the chosen site.
2
HPC calculation of wind directions
Each direction calculated using CFD is divided into computational subdomains, in order to obtain acceptable computation sizes and to be able to use task parallelization on our HPC server.
3
Aggregation of results
Analysis and smoothing of CFD subdomains by direction to consolidate results.
4
Climate data configuration
Coupling of data from mesoscale climatological models with Meteodyn GCS.
When data from measuring masts are available, it is possible to integrate them to calibrate mesoscale data, thus improving the results accuracy. It is also possible to reprocess the measured data if they are incomplete, to further refine the accuracy. All these operations are carried out with our Meteodyn WDA software.
5
HPC calculation of the synthesis
The synthesis computation is performed on our HPC server, by mapping height, with our Meteodyn WT software.
6
Wind atlas results export
Our experts analyze the synthesis results to build the Wind Atlas according to the desired characteristics. The final result is obtained in WRG format (a fusion of the maps cut in step 1 can be done to create a file by height) and exploitable in software such as Qgis.
The required data
Orography
The orography data provided must be sufficiently large in relation to the diameter of the site to be calculated. Otherwise, we can provide SRTM 90 or SRTM 30 data.
Roughness
Roughness data is either provided by the applicant or by us (e.g. CLC data).
Climatology
Climatology will make it possible to define the stability classes.
Ideally
Measured wind data to perform extrapolation and cross-referencing with mesoscale data.