NORA3

Spatial domain for the NORA3 mesoscale data in windPRO (we cover approx 300km from the coastline). Image showing average wind speeds from 2007-2021 - taken from the https://www.windprospecting.com platform.

Introduction

The Norwegian Reanalysis, NORA3, is a high resolution hindcast dataset provided by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. The model holds data at 3km resolution and covers significant on- and offshore areas around the Baltic Sea, North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. NORA3 is downscaling to the 3km resolution by use of ERA5 reanalysis data as initial and boundary conditions. However, also a surface analysis is also performed using in order to refine initial condition at each integration cycle. This is done by assimillating meteorological data from SYNOP and METAR stations, ships and buoys from the MARS database. The numerical weather prediction model used is HARMONIE–AROME in its release "Cy 40h1.2". The HARMONIE-AROME model is developed and used by many European meteorological institutes.

Dataset Overview

• Content: Limited feature and spartial-domain subset of the NORA3 mesoscale dataset
  (we provide about 1.1 million nodes in a distance of approx 300km from the coastlines).
• Spatial resolution: 3km
• Temporal resolution: Timestep 1 hour
• Coverage: See the map to the right
• Period: In windPRO: 15 years of data from 2009-01-01 to 2021-12-31
• Update schedule: Unknown.
  We will update when/if more recent data becomes available.

Usage Notes

1. I am interested in other parameters. Where can I get those? See a complete list and download these directly from the NEWA homepage: https://map.neweuropeanwindatlas.eu (time-series download is not directly possible)
2. Why is only 10 years of data available?: The mesoscale modelling in the NEWA project covered 30 years (1989-2018) - but currently only the last 10 years has been made available to the public from the NEWA consortium.
3. Where can I learn about the performance of the data?: The NEWA data was included as part of the EMD data benchmarks for the EMD-WRF Europe+ dataset. Here different reanalysis and mesoscale data sources were compared to 300+ high-quality masts within the European domain. The validation report is freely available - here.
4. How can I get turbulence intensities from the NEWA data - as only the Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) is given as a parameter?: As of October 2021, windPRO does not support the use of TKE as a turbulence parameter. However, you can use a (manual) procedure to convert it - by the use of Microsoft Excel or a similar spreadsheet. A procedure is suggested here.

Dataset Parameters

The following parameters are available from the NEWA mesoscale data-subset in windPRO:

Table: Overview of NEWA Dataset Parameters (3km grid).

Parameter(s)	Description	Unit
time	UTC time stamp	YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
T.100, T.200	Temperature in 100m and 200m agl	degK
TKE.100	Turbulent Kinetic Energy in 100m agl	(m/s)^2
WD.100, WD.200	Wind direction in 100m and 200m agl	deg
WS.100, WS.200	Wind speed in 100m and 200m agl	m/s

License and Attribution

This dataset is a subset of the NEWA mesoscale dataset that has been released under the Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 license (CC-BY-40) - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. As a part of the license conditions, the data-owner requires an attribution, such as:

Source: Data obtained from the “New European Wind Atlas, a free, web-based application developed, owned and operated by the NEWA Consortium. 
For additional information see www.neweuropeanwindatlas.eu". Distribution through EMD and windPRO - EMD International A/S, 2021. License: CC-BY-40.

Required windPRO License and Modules

This dataset can be accessed from the most recent version of windPRO given that you hold an active service agreement and a license to the following modules:

• BASIS
• METEO

External Links and References

• Norwegian Meteorological Institute - here
• NORA3 - thredds server at the Norwegian Meteorological Instutute - here
• NORA3 Model Description Publication in Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology by Haakenstad et al - here
• NORA3 Validation Paper in Wind Energy Science by Solbrekke, Sorteberg & Haakenstad - here

Acknowledgement and Credits

1. Credits and Acknowledgement: The NEWA Consortium for the release of the NEWA mesoscale dataset as a free and open dataset.
2. Integration of this dataset into EMD services was co-supported through the RECAST project (http://www.recastproject.dk) which is co-funded by the Danish Innovation Fund