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

Release Schedule

Data are updated monthly with an approximate 3 months delay defined by ERA Interims availability and computational efforts at EMD's high-performance computer clusters. Before contacting support because of delays in the release schedule, please check ERA interims availability on the ERA availability page. EMD-ConWX data cannot be computed before ERA interim data is available.

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	Unit	Description	Type
time		UTC time stamp
psfc	hPa	Pressure at site	Instantaneous
msl	hPa	Pressure at mean sea level	Instantaneous
wSpeed.x	m/s	Wind speeds at different physical levels (x). Heights (x): 10m, 25m, 50m, 75m, 100m, 150m, 200m	Instantaneous
wDir.x	deg	Wind speeds at different physical levels (x). Heights (x): 10m, 25m, 50m, 75m, 100m, 150m, 200m	Instantaneous
wSpeed.0-30mb	m/s	Wind speeds at pressure level 0-30mb.	Instantaneous
wDir.0-30mb	deg	Wind speeds at pressure levels 0-30mb.	Instantaneous
wSpeed.850hpa	m/s	Wind speeds at pressure level 850hPa.	Instantaneous
wDir.850hpa	deg	Wind speeds at pressure levels 850hPa.	Instantaneous
temperature.x	celcius	Temperatures at different heights (x) Heights (x): 2m and 100m	Instantaneous
waterTemp	celcius	Water temperature	Instantaneous
soilTemp.0-10cm	celcius	The temperature in the upper 10 cm of the soil	Instantaneous
relHumidity.2	%	Relative humidity in height 2m above ground level	Instantaneous
snowDepth	m	Show depth (if present)	Instantaneous
vis.s	m	Visibility at surface	Instantaneous
sensHeatFlux.s	w/m2	Sensible Heat Flux at surface	Instantaneous
totPrecip.s	kg/m^2/s	Total Precipitation at surface	1h Avg.
downShortWaveFlux.s	w/m2	Downward shortwave heat flux at surface	1h Avg.
totalCloudCover.a	%	Total cloud cover in atmosphere	1h Avg.
convCloudCover.a	%	Convective cloud cover in atmosphere	1h Avg.
4LFTX	K	N/A
rmol	1/m	N/A
znt	m	Rougnhess length
sqrtTKE.x *)	m/s	Turbulence (given as standard deviation in m/s). Derived from the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). Results available in different physical levels. Heights (x): 10m, 25m, 50m, 75m, 100m, 150m, 200m	Instantaneous
cloudWater.100	kg/kg	Parameter intended for estimating probability of icing.	Instantaneous
cloudIce.100	kg/m^2	Parameter intended for estimating probability of icing.	Instantaneous

_*) 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).