EMD-ConWx Meso Data Europe

Blue/yellow dots illustrate nearest EMD-ConWx Meso scale grid points, green dots are nearest MERRA grid points for comparison.

WindPRO 2.9 introduces a high-resolution meso-scale data set covering Europe. The data are modeled and computed in-house - in a collaboration between EMD and ConWx (http://www.conwx.com) who are experts in meso-scale modelling.

Note: This data-set requires an additional license (see below).

Dataset Description

The meso-scale model is run at a high spatial resolution of 0.03°x0.03°, approximately 3x3 km, with hourly temporal resolution. ERA Interim data from ECMWF (http://www.ecmwf.int) are the global boundary data. The timespan of the data is at least 15 years back from today, extended to cover a minimum of 20 years during 2013. Data are updated monthly with an approximate 3 months delay defined by ERA Interims availability and computational efforts at EMD's high-performace computer clusters.

Data access is via WindPRO’s user friendly interface to on-line data and payment of an annual subscription fee.

Required modules/licenses

To access the EMD-ConWx meso-scale data the following licenses/modules are required in your WindPRO setup:

• Basis
• METEO
• MCP
• EMD-ConWx Meso Data, Europe

When the license fee is paid, then you have access to the full data-set without further cost. The cost is available from the price-list on the EMD-homepage. Downloading of data is unrestricted for licenced users, however a "fair use" policy applies. Unlicenced users may download three months of data from any point, however multiple downloads are not allowed from the same point.

Model Domain

The model domain for the EMD-ConWx model is shown in the figure below. Our new data set covers Europe including larger parts of Turkey and Ukraine, excluding the northern extremes of Scandinavia.

Illustration of the data coverage of the EMD-ConWx Meso Scale Data. Colors illustrate a snapshot of wind speed variations across Europe for one of the modeled hourly intervals.

Dataset Parameters

A large quantity of useful parameters are available directly in WindPRO to aid your analysis. The different parameters in the EMD-ConWx dataset that are available from within WindPRO are shown in the table below.

Table: Overview of EMD-ConWx Meso Dataset Parameters (3 km grid).

Parameter	Description
time	UTC time stamp
psfc	Pressure at site [hPa]
msl	Pressure at mean sea level [hPa]
wSpeed.x	Wind speeds at different physical levels (x). Heights (x): 10m, 25m, 50m, 75m, 100m, 150m, 200m
wDir.x	Wind speeds at different physical levels (x). Heights (x): 10m, 25m, 50m, 75m, 100m, 150m, 200m
wSpeed.0-30mb	Wind speeds at pressure level 0-30mb.
wDir.0-30mb	Wind speeds at pressure levels 0-30mb.
wSpeed.850hpa	Wind speeds at pressure level 850hPa.
wDir.850hpa	Wind speeds at pressure levels 850hPa.
temperature.x	Temperatures at different heights (x) Heights (x): 2m and 100m
waterTemp	Water temperature
soilTemp.0-10cm	The temperature in the upper 10 cm of the soil
relHumidity.2	Relative humidity in height 2m above ground level
snowDepth	Show depth (if present)
vis.s	Visibility at surface
sensHeatFlux.s	Sensible Heat Flux at surface
totPrecip.s	Total Precipitation at surface
downShortWaveFlux.s	Downward shortwave heat flux at surface
totalCloudCover.a	Total cloud cover in atmosphere
convCloudCover.a	Convective cloud cover in atmosphere
4LFTX	N/A
rmol	N/A
znt	Rougnhess length
sqrtTKE.x *)	Square root of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) as an estimate of the turbulence intensity. Results available in different physical levels. Heights (x): 10m, 25m, 50m, 75m, 100m, 150m, 200m
cloudWater.100	N/A
cloudIce.100	N/A

_*) Selected years only

Model Experiences

The model-setup has been validated through various internal investigations on masts around Europe. Direct comparison against a tall Danish mast at Høvsøre is found on the second page of the EMD-ConWx Meso datasheet available.

EMD and some users has found that the absolute levels of the wind speeds may be 10%-15% off at some Central European locations. However, note, that this data-set was not designed to replace a mast but rather intended for long-term corrections of local masts. For this purpose we have excellent experience with the use of the data – the absolute level does not need to be correct, as long as it is consistent.

For the absolute levels to be (more) correct and potentially useful for direct micro-siting analysis, the need to incorporate a down-scaling procedure and further utilization of a micro-scale model with associated micro-scale topography is currently being investigated (2013).