FY 1999 basic survey of coal resource development. Coal GIS survey; 1999 nendo sekitan shigen kaihatsu kiso chosa. Sekitan GIS chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

The purpose of this survey is to construct a comprehensive coal field assessment technology system which can promptly cope with any natural conditions/geological situations of coal field. As to the GIS (geographical information system) which can unifiedly manage/analyze various data being used in other fields, survey was conducted of present situations/technology trends of the resource related GIS, and at the same time the survey is aimed at applying it to the coal resource field. In the survey in this fiscal year, based on the survey made in FY 1998, applicability of GIS function was verified for Australia where the coal GIS is prepared. And the fundamental design was made to construct a coal GIS considered of concrete application in the stage of coal resource exploration and resource assessment. In the fundamental design, prototypes of individual functions of the system were made. Making the analysis using the actual data, expansion and complication of the system size were advanced step by step toward the completion of the system. Such prototypical development method was adopted. (NEDO)

Land suitability assessment for wind power plant site selection using ANP-DEMATEL in a GIS environment: case study of Ardabil province, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Azizi, Ali; Malekmohammadi, Bahram; Jafari, Hamid Reza; Nasiri, Hossein; Amini Parsa, Vahid

2014-10-01

Wind energy is a renewable energy resource that has increased in usage in most countries. Site selection for the establishment of large wind turbines, called wind farms, like any other engineering project, requires basic information and careful planning. This study assessed the possibility of establishing wind farms in Ardabil province in northwestern Iran by using a combination of analytic network process (ANP) and decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) methods in a geographical information system (GIS) environment. DEMATEL was used to determine the criteria relationships. The weights of the criteria were determined using ANP and the overlaying process was done on GIS. Using 13 information layers in three main criteria including environmental, technical and economical, the land suitability map was produced and reclassified into 5 equally scored divisions from least suitable to most suitable areas. The results showed that about 6.68% of the area of Ardabil province is most suitable for establishment of wind turbines. Sensitivity analysis shows that significant portions of these most suitable zones coincide with suitable divisions of the input layers. The efficiency and accuracy of the hybrid model (ANP-DEMATEL) was evaluated and the results were compared to the ANP model. The sensitivity analysis, map classification, and factor weights for the two methods showed satisfactory results for the ANP-DEMATEL model in wind power plant site selection.

Wind and solar resource data sets: Wind and solar resource data sets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clifton, Andrew [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Hodge, Bri-Mathias [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Power Systems Engineering Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Draxl, Caroline [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; National Wind Technology Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Badger, Jake [Department of Wind Energy, Danish Technical University, Copenhagen Denmark; Habte, Aron [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Power Systems Engineering Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA

2017-12-05

The range of resource data sets spans from static cartography showing the mean annual wind speed or solar irradiance across a region to high temporal and high spatial resolution products that provide detailed information at a potential wind or solar energy facility. These data sets are used to support continental-scale, national, or regional renewable energy development; facilitate prospecting by developers; and enable grid integration studies. This review first provides an introduction to the wind and solar resource data sets, then provides an overview of the common methods used for their creation and validation. A brief history of wind and solar resource data sets is then presented, followed by areas for future research.

Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Oaxaca

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

2003-08-01

The Oaxaca Wind Resource Atlas, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group, is the result of an extensive mapping study for the Mexican State of Oaxaca. This atlas identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Oaxaca. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

Offshore wind resource estimation for wind energy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Badger, Merete; Mouche, A.

2010-01-01

Satellite remote sensing from active and passive microwave instruments is used to estimate the offshore wind resource in the Northern European Seas in the EU-Norsewind project. The satellite data include 8 years of Envisat ASAR, 10 years of QuikSCAT, and 23 years of SSM/I. The satellite observati......Satellite remote sensing from active and passive microwave instruments is used to estimate the offshore wind resource in the Northern European Seas in the EU-Norsewind project. The satellite data include 8 years of Envisat ASAR, 10 years of QuikSCAT, and 23 years of SSM/I. The satellite...... observations are compared to selected offshore meteorological masts in the Baltic Sea and North Sea. The overall aim of the Norsewind project is a state-of-the-art wind atlas at 100 m height. The satellite winds are all valid at 10 m above sea level. Extrapolation to higher heights is a challenge. Mesoscale...... modeling of the winds at hub height will be compared to data from wind lidars observing at 100 m above sea level. Plans are also to compare mesoscale model results and satellite-based estimates of the offshore wind resource....

Wind resource estimation and siting of wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundtang Petersen, Erik; Mortensen, N.G.; Landberg, L.

1994-01-01

Detailed knowledge of the characteristics of the natural wind is necessary for the design, planning and operational aspect of wind energy systems. Here, we shall only be concerned with those meteorological aspects of wind energy planning that are termed wind resource estimation. The estimation...... of the wind resource ranges from the overall estimation of the mean energy content of the wind over a large area - called regional assessment - to the prediction of the average yearly energy production of a specific wind turbine at a specific location - called siting. A regional assessment will most often...... lead to a so-called wind atlas. A precise prediction of the wind speed at a given site is essential because for aerodynamic reasons the power output of a wind turbine is proportional to the third power of the wind speed, hence even small errors in prediction of wind speed may result in large deviations...

Philippines Wind Energy Resource Atlas Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, D.

2000-11-29

This paper describes the creation of a comprehensive wind energy resource atlas for the Philippines. The atlas was created to facilitate the rapid identification of good wind resource areas and understanding of the salient wind characteristics. Detailed wind resource maps were generated for the entire country using an advanced wind mapping technique and innovative assessment methods recently developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the Philippines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; George, R.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; Scott, G.; McCarthy, E.

2001-03-06

This report contains the results of a wind resource analysis and mapping study for the Philippine archipelago. The study's objective was to identify potential wind resource areas and quantify the value of those resources within those areas. The wind resource maps and other wind resource characteristic information will be used to identify prospective areas for wind-energy applications.

Offshore wind energy potential in China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hong, Lixuan; Möller, Bernd

2011-01-01

and economic costs. However, the influence of tropical cyclone risks on these regions and detailed assessments at regional or local scale are worth of further discussions. Nevertheless, the models and results provide a foundation for a more comprehensive regional planning framework that would address......This paper investigates available offshore wind energy resources in China’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with the aid of a Geographical Information System (GIS), which allows the influence of technical, spatial and economic constraints on offshore wind resources being reflected in a continuous...... space. Geospatial supply curves and spatial distribution of levelised production cost (LPC) are developed, which provide information on the available potential of offshore wind energy at or below a given cost, and its corresponding geographical locations. The GIS-based models also reflect the impacts...

Participatory GIS for resource management in Africa: Taking stock ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Participatory GIS for resource management in Africa: Taking stock. 25 avril 2016 ... Spatial decision-support tools hold considerable potential to contribute to sustainable resource management. By improving access to information ... Nombre d'entre nous qui résidons dans l'est du Canada avons l'impression qu'il n'y a pas eu.

Wind resource analysis. Annual report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hardy, D. M.

1978-12-01

FY78 results of the Wind Resource Analyses task of the ERAB are described. Initial steps were taken to acquire modern atmosphere models of near-surface wind flow and primary data sets used in previous studies of national and regional wind resources. Because numerous assumptions are necessary to interpret available data in terms of wind energy potential, conclusions of previous studies differ considerably. These data analyses may be improved by future SERI research. State-of-the-art atmosphere models are a necessary component of the SERI wind resource analyses capacity. However, these methods also need to be tested and verified in diverse applications. The primary data sets and principal features of the models are discussed.

Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for Alaska

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doubrawa Moreira, Paula [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Scott, George N. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Musial, Walter D. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kilcher, Levi F. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Draxl, Caroline [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lantz, Eric J. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2018-01-02

This report quantifies Alaska's offshore wind resource capacity while focusing on its unique nature. It is a supplement to the existing U.S. Offshore Wind Resource Assessment, which evaluated the offshore wind resource for all other U.S. states. Together, these reports provide the foundation for the nation's offshore wind value proposition. Both studies were developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The analysis presented herein represents the first quantitative evidence of the offshore wind energy potential of Alaska. The technical offshore wind resource area in Alaska is larger than the technical offshore resource area of all other coastal U.S. states combined. Despite the abundant wind resource available, significant challenges inhibit large-scale offshore wind deployment in Alaska, such as the remoteness of the resource, its distance from load centers, and the wealth of land available for onshore wind development. Throughout this report, the energy landscape of Alaska is reviewed and a resource assessment analysis is performed in terms of gross and technical offshore capacity and energy potential.

Wind Resource Assessment of Gujarat (India)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Draxl, C.; Purkayastha, A.; Parker, Z.

2014-07-01

India is one of the largest wind energy markets in the world. In 1986 Gujarat was the first Indian state to install a wind power project. In February 2013, the installed wind capacity in Gujarat was 3,093 MW. Due to the uncertainty around existing wind energy assessments in India, this analysis uses the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate the wind at current hub heights for one year to provide more precise estimates of wind resources in Gujarat. The WRF model allows for accurate simulations of winds near the surface and at heights important for wind energy purposes. While previous resource assessments published wind power density, we focus on average wind speeds, which can be converted to wind power densities by the user with methods of their choice. The wind resource estimates in this study show regions with average annual wind speeds of more than 8 m/s.

A high resolution global wind atlas - improving estimation of world wind resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Jake; Ejsing Jørgensen, Hans

2011-01-01

to population centres, electrical transmission grids, terrain types, and protected land areas are important parts of the resource assessment downstream of the generation of wind climate statistics. Related to these issues of integration are the temporal characteristics and spatial correlation of the wind...... resources. These aspects will also be addressed by the Global Wind Atlas. The Global Wind Atlas, through a transparent methodology, will provide a unified, high resolution, and public domain dataset of wind energy resources for the whole world. The wind atlas data will be the most appropriate wind resource...

Wind Resource Atlas of Oaxaca (CD-ROM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

2003-08-01

The CD version of the Oaxaca Wind Resource Atlas, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group, is the result of an extensive mapping study for the Mexican State of Oaxaca. This atlas identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Oaxaca. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Mongolia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, D; Schwartz, M; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

2001-08-27

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored a project to help accelerate the large-scale use of wind energy technologies in Mongolia through the development of a wind energy resource atlas of Mongolia. DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) administered and conducted this project in collaboration with USAID and Mongolia. The Mongolian organizations participating in this project were the Scientific, Production, and Trade Corporation for Renewable Energy (REC) and the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (IMH). The primary goals of the project were to develop detailed wind resource maps for all regions of Mongolia for a comprehensive wind resource atlas, and to establish a wind-monitoring program to identify prospective sites for wind energy projects and help validate some of the wind resource estimates.

European Wind Atlas and Wind Resource Research in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Niels Gylling

to estimate the actual wind climate at any specific site and height within this region. The Danish and European Wind Atlases are examples of how the wind atlas methodology can be employed to estimate the wind resource potential for a country or a sub-continent. Recently, the methodology has also been used...... - from wind measurements at prospective sites to wind tunnel simulations and advanced flow modelling. Among these approaches, the wind atlas methodology - developed at Ris0 National Laboratory over the last 25 years - has gained widespread recognition and is presently considered by many as the industry......-standard tool for wind resource assessment and siting of wind turbines. The PC-implementation of the methodology, the Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program (WAsP), has been applied in more than 70 countries and territories world-wide. The wind atlas methodology is based on physical descriptions and models...

Gis-Based Solar and Wind Turbine Site Selection Using Multi-Criteria Analysis: Case Study Tehran, Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeghi, M.; Karimi, M.

2017-09-01

Renewable energy has less negative impacts on environment than fossil fuels. Iran has many resources for renewable energy exploitation but because of their high price, it has not been developed. Site selection is an important step for utilizing large investments like solar farms and wind turbines. Multi-criteria evaluation methods are commonly used for site selection. The purpose of this paper is to determine suitable sites for solar farm and wind turbine using GIS and AHP in Tehran, in order to generate a distributed network to increase power network stability. The final land suitability index was grouped in four categories as "most suitable", "suitable", "moderate" and "low suitable". As a result 94.61% (789939.63 km2) is low suitable, 4.47% (37337.17 km2) is moderate, 0.59% (4964.22 km2) is suitable and 0.32% (2680.70 km2) is the most suitable for building wind turbine and for solar farm, 44.07% (8116.88 km2) is low suitable, 12.81% (2359.79 km2) is moderate, 35.10% (6464.29 km2) is suitable and 8.02% (1477.28 km2) is the most suitable.

GIS-BASED SOLAR AND WIND TURBINE SITE SELECTION USING MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS: CASE STUDY TEHRAN, IRAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Sadeghi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Renewable energy has less negative impacts on environment than fossil fuels. Iran has many resources for renewable energy exploitation but because of their high price, it has not been developed. Site selection is an important step for utilizing large investments like solar farms and wind turbines. Multi-criteria evaluation methods are commonly used for site selection. The purpose of this paper is to determine suitable sites for solar farm and wind turbine using GIS and AHP in Tehran, in order to generate a distributed network to increase power network stability. The final land suitability index was grouped in four categories as “most suitable”, “suitable”, “moderate” and “low suitable”. As a result 94.61% (789939.63 km2 is low suitable, 4.47% (37337.17 km2 is moderate, 0.59% (4964.22 km2 is suitable and 0.32% (2680.70 km2 is the most suitable for building wind turbine and for solar farm, 44.07% (8116.88 km2 is low suitable, 12.81% (2359.79 km2 is moderate, 35.10% (6464.29 km2 is suitable and 8.02% (1477.28 km2 is the most suitable.

Cost of wind energy: comparing distant wind resources to local resources in the midwestern United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoppock, David C; Patiño-Echeverri, Dalia

2010-11-15

The best wind sites in the United States are often located far from electricity demand centers and lack transmission access. Local sites that have lower quality wind resources but do not require as much power transmission capacity are an alternative to distant wind resources. In this paper, we explore the trade-offs between developing new wind generation at local sites and installing wind farms at remote sites. We first examine the general relationship between the high capital costs required for local wind development and the relatively lower capital costs required to install a wind farm capable of generating the same electrical output at a remote site,with the results representing the maximum amount an investor should be willing to pay for transmission access. We suggest that this analysis can be used as a first step in comparing potential wind resources to meet a state renewable portfolio standard (RPS). To illustrate, we compare the cost of local wind (∼50 km from the load) to the cost of distant wind requiring new transmission (∼550-750 km from the load) to meet the Illinois RPS. We find that local, lower capacity factor wind sites are the lowest cost option for meeting the Illinois RPS if new long distance transmission is required to access distant, higher capacity factor wind resources. If higher capacity wind sites can be connected to the existing grid at minimal cost, in many cases they will have lower costs.

Climate Wind Power Resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nana M. Berdzenishvili

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Georgia as a whole is characterized by rather rich solar energy resources, which allows to construct alternative power stations in the close proximity to traditional power plants. In this case the use of solar energy is meant. Georgia is divided into 5 zones based on the assessment of wind power resources. The selection of these zones is based on the index of average annual wind speed in the examined area, V> 3 m / s and V> 5 m / s wind speed by the summing duration in the course of the year and V = 0. . . 2 m / s of passive wind by total and continuous duration of these indices per hour.

Wind Resource Estimation using QuikSCAT Ocean Surface Winds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, Qing; Zhang, Guosheng; Cheng, Yongcun

2011-01-01

In this study, the offshore wind resources in the East China Sea and South China Sea were estimated from over ten years of QuikSCAT scatterometer wind products. Since the errors of these products are larger close to the coast due to the land contamination of radar backscatter signal...... and the complexity of air-sea interaction processes, an empirical relationship that adjusts QuikSCAT winds in coastal waters was first proposed based on vessel measurements. Then the shape and scale parameters of Weibull function are determined for wind resource estimation. The wind roses are also plotted. Results...

Evaluation model of wind energy resources and utilization efficiency of wind farm

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Jie

2018-04-01

Due to the large amount of abandoned winds in wind farms, the establishment of a wind farm evaluation model is particularly important for the future development of wind farms In this essay, consider the wind farm's wind energy situation, Wind Energy Resource Model (WERM) and Wind Energy Utilization Efficiency Model(WEUEM) are established to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the wind farm. Wind Energy Resource Model (WERM) contains average wind speed, average wind power density and turbulence intensity, which assessed wind energy resources together. Based on our model, combined with the actual measurement data of a wind farm, calculate the indicators using the model, and the results are in line with the actual situation. We can plan the future development of the wind farm based on this result. Thus, the proposed establishment approach of wind farm assessment model has application value.

Wind Resource Assessment – Østerild National Test Centre for Large Wind Turbines

OpenAIRE

Hansen, Brian Ohrbeck; Courtney, Michael; Mortensen, Niels Gylling

2014-01-01

This report presents a wind resource assessment for the seven test stands at the Østerild National Test Centre for Large Wind Turbines in Denmark. Calculations have been carried out mainly using wind data from three on-site wind lidars. The generalized wind climates applied in the wind resource calculations for the seven test stands are based on correlations between a short period of on-site wind data from the wind lidars with a long-term reference. The wind resource assessment for the seven ...

Calculation of depleted wind resources near wind farms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Morten

2015-01-01

Traditional wind resource maps include wind distribution, energy density and potential power production without wake effects. Adding wake effect to such maps is feasible by means of a new method based on Fourier transformation,and the extra computational work is comparable to that of the basic wind...

Wind energy resource atlas. Volume 9. The Southwest Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simon, R.L.; Norman, G.T.; Elliott, D.L.; Barchet, W.R.; George, R.L.

1980-11-01

This atlas of the wind energy resource is composed of introductory and background information, a regional summary of the wind resource, and assessments of the wind resource in Nevada and California. Background on how the wind resource is assessed and on how the results of the assessment should be interpreted is presented. A description of the wind resource on a regional scale is then given. The results of the wind energy assessments for each state are assembled into an overview and summary of the various features of the regional wind energy resource. An introduction and outline to the descriptions of the wind resource given for each state are given. Assessments for individual states are presented as separate chapters. The state wind energy resources are described in greater detail than is the regional wind energy resource, and features of selected stations are discussed.

Wind resource characterization in the Arabian Peninsula

KAUST Repository

Yip, Chak Man Andrew

2015-12-28

Wind energy is expected to contribute to alleviating the rise in energy demand in the Middle East that is driven by population growth and industrial development. However, variability and intermittency in the wind resource present significant challenges to grid integration of wind energy systems. These issues are rarely addressed in the literature of wind resource assessment in the Middle East due to sparse meteorological observations with varying record lengths. In this study, the wind field with consistent space–time resolution for over three decades at three hub heights (50m, 80m, 140m) over the whole Arabian Peninsula is constructed using the Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) dataset. The wind resource is assessed at a higher spatial resolution with metrics of temporal variations in the wind than in prior studies. Previously unrecognized locations of interest with high wind abundance and low variability and intermittency have been identified in this study and confirmed by recent on-site observations. In particular, the western mountains of Saudi Arabia experience more abundant wind resource than most Red Sea coastal areas. The wind resource is more variable in coastal areas along the Arabian Gulf than their Red Sea counterparts at a similar latitude. Persistent wind is found along the coast of the Arabian Gulf.

Basic survey for coal resources exploitation for Fiscal 1998. Coal GIS survey; 1998 nendo seitan shigeh kaihatsu kiso chosa. Sekitan GIS chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

For the construction of a coal mine assessment technology system, surveys are conducted on the current state and technology trends of resources-related GIS (geographical information system) in other countries. When one ponders over coal-rich areas to be newly explored and developed in one's study on the stable exploitation of coal abroad and its import to this country, what interests one gradually shifts from known superior large-scale coal mine areas to next-generation coal mine areas yet to be exploited. Accordingly, it is mandatory to build an assessment-oriented comprehensive technology system capable of promptly dealing with any changes in natural, geological conditions that may be presented by coal mines to be exploited. Although GIS is recognized as a useful means not only in the field of natural science but also in other fields whose data may be plotted on a map, its position is not yet established when it comes to coal resources. It is therefore necessary to promptly introduce GIS into the field of coal. In fiscal 1998, on-site surveys were conducted not only in Japan but also in the U.S., Canada, and Australia who are senior to Japan in terms of GIS application. Also, information was collected from literature and via Internet, surveys were conducted about the use of GIS in the field of earth science especially in the field of coal resources, and the state of the digital data utilizing setup indispensable for the proper operation of GIS was investigated. (NEDO)

Wind conditions and resource assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundtang Petersen, Erik; Troen, Ib

2012-01-01

The development of wind power as a competitive energy source requires resource assessment of increasing accuracy and detail (including not only the long-term ‘raw’ wind resource, but also turbulence, shear, and extremes), and in areas of increasing complexity. This in turn requires the use of the...

Fort Carson Wind Resource Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robichaud, R.

2012-10-01

This report focuses on the wind resource assessment, the estimated energy production of wind turbines, and economic potential of a wind turbine project on a ridge in the southeastern portion of the Fort Carson Army base.

Wind and solar resource data sets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clifton, Andrew; Hodge, Bri-Mathias; Draxl, Caroline

2017-01-01

The range of resource data sets spans from static cartography showing the mean annual wind speed or solar irradiance across a region to high temporal and high spatial resolution products that provide detailed information at a potential wind or solar energy facility. These data sets are used...... to support continental-scale, national, or regional renewable energy development; facilitate prospecting by developers; and enable grid integration studies. This review first provides an introduction to the wind and solar resource data sets, then provides an overview of the common methods used...... for their creation and validation. A brief history of wind and solar resource data sets is then presented, followed by areas for future research. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website....

Wind power production: from the characterisation of the wind resource to wind turbine technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beslin, Guy; Multon, Bernard

2016-01-01

Illustrated by graphs and tables, this article first describes the various factors and means related to the assessment of wind resource in the World, in Europe, and the factors which characterize a local wind resource. In this last respect, the authors indicate how local topography is taken into account to calculate wind speed, how time variations are taken into account (at the yearly, seasonal or daily level), the different methods used to model a local wind resource, how to assess the power recoverable by a wind turbine with horizontal axis (notion of Betz limit). In the second part, the authors present the different wind turbines, their benefits and drawbacks: vertical axis, horizontal axis (examples of a Danish-type wind turbine, of wind turbines designed for extreme conditions). Then, they address the technology of big wind turbines: evolution of technology and of commercial offer, aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbine and benefit of a varying speed (technological solutions, importance of the electric generator). They describe how to choose a wind turbine, how product lines are organised, how the power curve and energy capacity are determined. The issue of integration of wind energy into the power system is then addressed. The next part addressed the economy of wind energy production (annualized production cost, order of magnitude of wind electric power production cost). Future trends are discussed and offshore wind energy production is briefly addressed

Development of GIS-based Wind Potential Map of Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Nayyar, Z. A.; Zaigham, N. A.; Aburizaiza, O. S.; Mahar, G. A.; Eusufi, S. N.

2011-12-01

Global energy scenario is changing drastically toward decline, as new major discoveries of fossil fuel are not coming up significantly on regional basis. In case of Saudi Arabia, one of the largest fossil fuel producers, the major oil fields have started exhausting significantly as revealed from the literature research study. Considering the future energy crisis, different other renewable options presently have became imperative to be consider anticipating for the national development. Wind energy in one of them. The development of wind energy technology requires the baseline data relevant to the wind trends and their potentials. Under the present study, an attempt has been made to develop wind power density map of the Makkah Province of Saudi Arabia based on the meteorological data collected at different sparsely located weather stations. GIS application has provided a good option to interpolate the gap areas between the sparsely located weather recording stations. This paper describe the methodology and results of the present study.

GIS as a tool in participatory natural resource management: Examples from the Peruvian Andes

OpenAIRE

Bussink, C.

2003-01-01

Metadata only record Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are often seen as incompatible with participatory processes. However, since the late 1990s, attempts have been made in numerous projects around the world to define 'best practices' for improved natural resource management projects that integrate participation and accurate spatial information, using GIS (for example, see www.iapad.org/participatory_gis.htm). This article describes a project in the Peruvian Andes where spatial informa...

Technical Potential Assessment for the Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Process: A GIS-Based Approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Nathan [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Roberts, Billy J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2018-04-05

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based energy resource and technical potential assessments identify areas capable of supporting high levels of renewable energy (RE) development as part of a Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Transmission Planning process. This document expands on the REZ Process to aid practitioners in conducting GIS-based RE resource and technical potential assessments. The REZ process is an approach to plan, approve, and build transmission infrastructure that connects REZs - geographic areas that have high-quality RE resources, suitable topography and land-use designations, and demonstrated developer interest - to the power system. The REZ process helps to increase the share of solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, and other resources while also maintaining reliability and economics.

NANA Wind Resource Assessment Program Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jay Hermanson

2010-09-23

NANA Regional Corporation (NRC) of northwest Alaska is located in an area with abundant wind energy resources. In 2007, NRC was awarded grant DE-FG36-07GO17076 by the US Department of Energy's Tribal Energy Program for funding a Wind Resource Assessment Project (WRAP) for the NANA region. The NANA region, including Kotzebue Electric Association (KEA) and Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) have been national leaders at developing, designing, building, and operating wind-diesel hybrid systems in Kotzebue (starting in 1996) and Selawik (2002). Promising sites for the development of new wind energy projects in the region have been identified by the WRAP, including Buckland, Deering, and the Kivalina/Red Dog Mine Port Area. Ambler, Shungnak, Kobuk, Kiana, Noorvik & Noatak were determined to have poor wind resources at sites in or very near each community. However, all five of these communities may have better wind resources atop hills or at sites with slightly higher elevations several miles away.

Wind resource assessment and wind energy system cost analysis: Fort Huachuca, Arizona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olsen, T.L. [Tim Olsen Consulting, Denver, CO (United States); McKenna, E. [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)

1997-12-01

The objective of this joint DOE and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) project is to determine whether wind turbines can reduce costs by providing power to US military facilities in high wind areas. In support of this objective, one year of data on the wind resources at several Fort Huachuca sites was collected. The wind resource data were analyzed and used as input to an economic study for a wind energy installation at Fort Huachuca. The results of this wind energy feasibility study are presented in the report.

Terminology Guideline for Classifying Offshore Wind Energy Resources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beiter, Philipp [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Musial, Walt [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-09-01

The purpose of this guideline is to establish a clear and consistent vocabulary for conveying offshore wind resource potential and to interpret this vocabulary in terms that are familiar to the oil and gas (O&G) industry. This involves clarifying and refining existing definitions of offshore wind energy resource classes. The terminology developed in this guideline represents one of several possible sets of vocabulary that may differ with respect to their purpose, data availability, and comprehensiveness. It was customized to correspond with established offshore wind practices and existing renewable energy industry terminology (e.g. DOE 2013, Brown et al. 2015) while conforming to established fossil resource classification as best as possible. The developers of the guideline recognize the fundamental differences that exist between fossil and renewable energy resources with respect to availability, accessibility, lifetime, and quality. Any quantitative comparison between fossil and renewable energy resources, including offshore wind, is therefore limited. For instance, O&G resources are finite and there may be significant uncertainty associated with the amount of the resource. In contrast, aboveground renewable resources, such as offshore wind, do not generally deplete over time but can vary significantly subhourly, daily, seasonally, and annually. The intent of this guideline is to make these differences transparent and develop an offshore wind resource classification that conforms to established fossil resource classifications where possible. This guideline also provides methods to quantitatively compare certain offshore wind energy resources to O&G resource classes for specific applications. Finally, this guideline identifies areas where analogies to established O&G terminology may be inappropriate or subject to misinterpretation.

An open source GIS tool to quantify the visual impact of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minelli, Annalisa; Marchesini, Ivan; Taylor, Faith E.; De Rosa, Pierluigi; Casagrande, Luca; Cenci, Michele

2014-01-01

Although there are clear economic and environmental incentives for producing energy from solar and wind power, there can be local opposition to their installation due to their impact upon the landscape. To date, no international guidelines exist to guide quantitative visual impact assessment of these facilities, making the planning process somewhat subjective. In this paper we demonstrate the development of a method and an Open Source GIS tool to quantitatively assess the visual impact of these facilities using line-of-site techniques. The methods here build upon previous studies by (i) more accurately representing the shape of energy producing facilities, (ii) taking into account the distortion of the perceived shape and size of facilities caused by the location of the observer, (iii) calculating the possible obscuring of facilities caused by terrain morphology and (iv) allowing the combination of various facilities to more accurately represent the landscape. The tool has been applied to real and synthetic case studies and compared to recently published results from other models, and demonstrates an improvement in accuracy of the calculated visual impact of facilities. The tool is named r.wind.sun and is freely available from GRASS GIS AddOns. - Highlights: • We develop a tool to quantify wind turbine and photovoltaic panel visual impact. • The tool is freely available to download and edit as a module of GRASS GIS. • The tool takes into account visual distortion of the shape and size of objects. • The accuracy of calculation of visual impact is improved over previous methods

An open source GIS tool to quantify the visual impact of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Minelli, Annalisa, E-mail: Annalisa.Minelli@univ-brest.fr [Insitute Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Université de la Bretagne Occidentale, Rue Dumont D' Urville, 29280 Plouzané (France); Marchesini, Ivan, E-mail: Ivan.Marchesini@irpi.cnr.it [National Research Council (CNR), Research Insitute for Geo-hydrological Protection (IRPI), Strada della Madonna Alta 126, 06125 Perugia (Italy); Taylor, Faith E., E-mail: Faith.Taylor@kcl.ac.uk [Earth and Environmental Dynamics Research Group, Department of Geography, King' s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS (United Kingdom); De Rosa, Pierluigi, E-mail: Pierluigi.Derosa@unipg.it [Physics and Geology Department, University of Perugia, Via Zefferino Faina 4, 06123 Perugia (Italy); Casagrande, Luca, E-mail: Luca.Casagrande@gfosservices.it [Gfosservices S.A., Open Source GIS-WebGIS Solutions, Spatial Data Infrastructures, Planning and Counseling, Via F.lli Cairoli 24, 06127 Perugia (Italy); Cenci, Michele, E-mail: mcenci@regione.umbria.it [Servizio Energia qualità dell' ambiente, rifiuti, attività estrattive, Regione Umbia, Corso Vannucci 96, 06121 Perugia (Italy)

2014-11-15

Although there are clear economic and environmental incentives for producing energy from solar and wind power, there can be local opposition to their installation due to their impact upon the landscape. To date, no international guidelines exist to guide quantitative visual impact assessment of these facilities, making the planning process somewhat subjective. In this paper we demonstrate the development of a method and an Open Source GIS tool to quantitatively assess the visual impact of these facilities using line-of-site techniques. The methods here build upon previous studies by (i) more accurately representing the shape of energy producing facilities, (ii) taking into account the distortion of the perceived shape and size of facilities caused by the location of the observer, (iii) calculating the possible obscuring of facilities caused by terrain morphology and (iv) allowing the combination of various facilities to more accurately represent the landscape. The tool has been applied to real and synthetic case studies and compared to recently published results from other models, and demonstrates an improvement in accuracy of the calculated visual impact of facilities. The tool is named r.wind.sun and is freely available from GRASS GIS AddOns. - Highlights: • We develop a tool to quantify wind turbine and photovoltaic panel visual impact. • The tool is freely available to download and edit as a module of GRASS GIS. • The tool takes into account visual distortion of the shape and size of objects. • The accuracy of calculation of visual impact is improved over previous methods.

Characterization of wind power resource and its intermittency

Science.gov (United States)

Gunturu, U. B.; Schlosser, C. A.

2011-12-01

Wind resource in the continental and offshore United States has been calculated and characterized using metrics that describe - apart from abundance - its availability, persistence and intermittency. The Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) boundary layer flux data has been used to construct wind power density profiles at 50, 80, 100 and 120 m turbine hub heights. The wind power density estimates at 50 m are qualitatively similar to those in the US wind atlas developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), but quantitatively a class less in some regions, but are within the limits of uncertainty. We also show that for long tailed distributions like those of the wind power density, the mean is an overestimation and median is a more robust metric for summary representation of wind power resource.Generally speaking, the largest and most available wind power density resources are found in off-shore regions of the Atlantic and Pacific coastline, and the largest on-shore resource potential lies in the central United States. However, the intermittency and widespread synchronicity of on-shore wind power density are substantial, and highlights areas where considerable back-up generation technologies will be required. Generation-duration curves are also presented for the independent systems operator (ISO) zones of the U.S. to highlight the regions with the largest capacity factor (MISO, ERCOT, and SWPP) as well as the periods and extent to which all ISOs contain no wind power and the potential benefits of aggregation on wind power intermittency in each region. The impact of raising the wind turbine hub height on metrics of abundance, persistence, variability and intermittency is analyzed. There is a general increase in availability and abundance of wind resource but there is also an increase in intermittency with respect to a 'usable wind power' crossing level in low resource regions. A similar perspective of wind resource for

WEB-GIS FOR ASSESSING SCENARIOS OF USING NATURAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF SOUTHERN MACROREGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. E. Аrkhipova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the use of geoinformation technologies, including “cloud” services, for assessing the natural resource potential of the southern macroregion. The toolkit has been proposed to evaluate various scenarios of social and economic development of the regions and the associated use of the natural resource potential of the southern region. The geoinformation system for the regions of the South of Russia and a web application have been created.The methodology for assessing scenarios for usind the natural resource potential of the southern macroregion have been developed using ArcGis Online cloud technology. This technology allows you to run and maintain software and store data on the server by creating a private or combined cloud. Web-GIS are created on the basis of the interactive designer Story Map Journal℠.The relations in the nature-society system are evaluated on the example of two subjects of the Russian Federation that are part of the Southern and North-Caucasian federal districts – Rostov region and the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. Investigation of the natural resource potential of the southern regions of Russia involves comparing the available reserves of a particular type of resources and the degree of their use. A comparison of the potential resource reserve and the real intensity of its consumption in the municipalities of these regions formed the basis for interpreting the obtained estimates of the efficiency of using of the natural resource potential. Quantitative estimates are obtained at the level of municipal regions using developed software tools that combine GIS, databases and mathematical modeling.

Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

2003-08-01

The Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

Large-scale, high-resolution wind resource mapping for wind farm planning and development in South Africa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Niels Gylling; Badger, Jake; Hansen, Jens Carsten

2014-01-01

estimates are designed for national and provincial planning and strategic environmental impact assessment for wind power in South Africa and the results have therefore been made available in common GIS formats. The database of results is in the public domain and can be downloaded from the WASA web site...

Quantifying offshore wind resources from satellite wind maps: Study area the North Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Barthelmie, Rebecca Jane; Christiansen, Merete B.

2006-01-01

Offshore wind resources are quantified from satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and satellite scatterometer observations at local and regional scale respectively at the Horns Rev site in Denmark. The method for wind resource estimation from satellite observations interfaces with the wind atlas...... of the Horns Rev wind farm is quantified from satellite SAR images and compared with state-of-the-art wake model results with good agreement. It is a unique method using satellite observations to quantify the spatial extent of the wake behind large offshore wind farms. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd....... analysis and application program (WAsP). An estimate of the wind resource at the new project site at Horns Rev is given based on satellite SAR observations. The comparison of offshore satellite scatterometer winds, global model data and in situ data shows good agreement. Furthermore, the wake effect...

Development of web-based GIS services for sustainable soil resource management at farm level

Science.gov (United States)

Papadopoulos, Antonis; Kolovos, Chronis; Troyanos, Yerasimos; Doula, Maria

2017-09-01

Modern farms situated in urban or suburban areas, include various and in most cases diverse land covers. Land uses in such farms may serve residential, structured, aesthetic and agricultural purposes, usually delimited inside the boundaries of a single property. The environmental conditions across a farm, especially if it is situated on an irregular terrain, can be highly differentiated. Managing soil resources in a small scale diverse farm environment in a holistic and sustainable way should have spatial and temporal reference and take advantage of cut-edge geospatial technologies. In present study, an 8 hectare farm with various land uses in the southern suburbs of Attica Prefecture, Greece was systematically monitored regarding its soil, water and plant resources. Almost 80% of the farm's area is covered with trees, shrubs and low vegetation planted in a mosaic of parterres. Farm data collected concerned soil and water physicochemical characteristics, plant species, topographical features, irrigation network, valves and infrastructure. All data were imported and developed in a GIS geodatabase. Furthermore, web GIS services and a mobile GIS app were developed in order to monitor, update and synchronize present status and future changes performed in the farm. Through the web services and using the mobile GIS app, the user has access to all data stored in the geodatabase and according to access rights he can view or edit the spatial entities. The user can easily make query to specific features, combine their properties with other overlaying spatial data and reach accurate decisions. The app can be downloaded and implemented in mobile devices like smartphones and tablets for extending its functionality. As proven in this study, web GIS services and mobile GIS apps constitute an attractive suite of methodologies for effective and user friendly management of natural resources at farm level.

Wind class sampling of satellite SAR imagery for offshore wind resource mapping

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Merete; Badger, Jake; Nielsen, Morten

2010-01-01

developed for mesoscale modeling of wind resources. Its performance in connection with sampling of SAR scenes is tested against two sets of random SAR samples and meteorological observations at three sites in the North Sea during 2005–08. Predictions of the mean wind speed and the Weibull scale parameter......High-resolution wind fields retrieved from satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery are combined for mapping of wind resources offshore where site measurements are costly and sparse. A new sampling strategy for the SAR scenes is introduced, based on a method for statistical......-dynamical downscaling of large-scale wind conditions using a set of wind classes that describe representative wind situations. One or more SAR scenes are then selected to represent each wind class and the classes are weighted according to their frequency of occurrence. The wind class methodology was originally...

Wind and solar energy resources on the 'Roof of the World'

Science.gov (United States)

Zandler, Harald; Morche, Thomas; Samimi, Cyrus

2015-04-01

The Eastern Pamirs of Tajikistan, often referred to as 'Roof of the World', are an arid high mountain plateau characterized by severe energy poverty that may have great potential for renewable energy resources due to the prevailing natural conditions. The lack of energetic infrastructure makes the region a prime target for decentralized integration of wind and solar power. However, up to date no scientific attempt to assess the regional potential of these resources has been carried out. In this context, it is particularly important to evaluate if wind and solar energy are able to provide enough power to generate thermal energy, as other thermal energy carriers are scarce or unavailable and the existing alternative, local harvest of dwarf shrubs, is unsustainable due to the slow regeneration in this environment. Therefore, this study examines the feasibility of using wind and solar energy as thermal energy sources. Financial frame conditions were set on a maximum amount of five million Euros. This sum provides a realistic scenario as it is based on the current budget of the KfW development bank to finance the modernization of the local hydropower plant in the regions only city, Murghab, with about 1500 households. The basis for resource assessment is data of four climate stations, erected for this purpose in 2012, where wind speed, wind direction, global radiation and temperature are measured at a half hourly interval. These measurements confirm the expectation of a large photovoltaic potential and high panel efficiency with up to 84 percent of extraterrestrial radiation reaching the surface and only 16 hours of temperatures above 25°C were measured in two years at the village stations on average. As these observations are only point measurements, radiation data and the ASTER GDEM was used to train a GIS based solar radiation model to spatially extrapolate incoming radiation. With mean validation errors ranging from 5% in July (minimum) to 15% in December (maximum

Assessment of Global Wind Energy Resource Utilization Potential

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, M.; He, B.; Guan, Y.; Zhang, H.; Song, S.

2017-09-01

Development of wind energy resource (WER) is a key to deal with climate change and energy structure adjustment. A crucial issue is to obtain the distribution and variability of WER, and mine the suitable location to exploit it. In this paper, a multicriteria evaluation (MCE) model is constructed by integrating resource richness and stability, utilization value and trend of resource, natural environment with weights. The global resource richness is assessed through wind power density (WPD) and multi-level wind speed. The utilizable value of resource is assessed by the frequency of effective wind. The resource stability is assessed by the coefficient of variation of WPD and the frequency of prevailing wind direction. Regression slope of long time series WPD is used to assess the trend of WER. All of the resource evaluation indicators are derived from the atmospheric reanalysis data ERA-Interim with spatial resolution 0.125°. The natural environment factors mainly refer to slope and land-use suitability, which are derived from multi-resolution terrain elevation data 2010 (GMTED 2010) and GlobalCover2009. Besides, the global WER utilization potential map is produced, which shows most high potential regions are located in north of Africa. Additionally, by verifying that 22.22 % and 48.8 9% operational wind farms fall on medium-high and high potential regions respectively, the result can provide a basis for the macroscopic siting of wind farm.

Total, accessible and reserve wind energy resources in Bulgaria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, P.; Trifonova, L.

1996-01-01

The article is a part of the international project 'Bulgaria Country Study to Address Climate Change Inventory of the Greenhouse Gases Emission and Sinks Alternative Energy Balance and Technology Programs' sponsored by the Department of Energy, US. The 'total' average annual wind resources in Bulgaria determined on the basis wind velocity density for more than 100 meteorological stations are estimated on 125 000 TWh. For the whole territory the theoretical wind power potential is about 14200 GW. The 'accessible' wind resources are estimated on about 62000 TWh. The 'reserve' (or usable) wind resources are determined using 8 velocity intervals for WECS (Wind Energy Conversion Systems) operation, number and disposition of turbines, and the usable (3%) part of the territory. The annual reserve resources are estimated at about 21 - 33 TWh. The 'economically beneficial' wind resources (EBWR) are those part of the reserve resources which could be included in the country energy balance using specific technologies in specific time period. It is foreseen that at year 2010 the EBWR could reach 0.028 TWh. 7 refs., 2 tabs., 1 fig

Modeling wind energy potential in a data-poor region: A geographic information systems model for Iraq

Science.gov (United States)

Khayyat, Abdulkareem Hawta Abdullah Kak Ahmed

Scope and Method of Study: Most developing countries, including Iraq, have very poor wind data. Existing wind speed measurements of poor quality may therefore be a poor guide to where to look for the best wind resources. The main focus of this study is to examine how effectively a GIS spatial model estimates wind power potential in regions where high-quality wind data are very scarce, such as Iraq. The research used a mixture of monthly and hourly wind data from 39 meteorological stations. The study applied spatial analysis statistics and GIS techniques in modeling wind power potential. The model weighted important human, environmental and geographic factors that impact wind turbine siting, such as roughness length, land use⪉nd cover type, airport locations, road access, transmission lines, slope and aspect. Findings and Conclusions: The GIS model provided estimations for wind speed and wind power density and identified suitable areas for wind power projects. Using a high resolution (30*30m) digital elevation model DEM improved the GIS wind suitability model. The model identified areas suitable for wind farm development on different scales. The model showed that there are many locations available for large-scale wind turbines in the southern part of Iraq. Additionally, there are many places in central and northern parts (Kurdistan Region) for smaller scale wind turbine placement.

Free and simple GIS as appropriate for health mapping in a low resource setting: a case study in eastern Indonesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Rohan P; Myers, Bronwyn A

2011-02-25

Despite the demonstrated utility of GIS for health applications, there are perceived problems in low resource settings: GIS software can be expensive and complex; input data are often of low quality. This study aimed to test the appropriateness of new, inexpensive and simple GIS tools in poorly resourced areas of a developing country. GIS applications were trialled in pilot studies based on mapping of health resources and health indicators at the clinic and district level in the predominantly rural province of Nusa Tenggara Timur in eastern Indonesia. The pilot applications were (i) rapid field collection of health infrastructure data using a GPS enabled PDA, (ii) mapping health indicator data using open source GIS software, and (iii) service availability mapping using a free modelling tool. Through contextualised training, district and clinic staff acquired skills in spatial analysis and visualisation and, six months after the pilot studies, they were using these skills for advocacy in the planning process, to inform the allocation of some health resources, and to evaluate some public health initiatives. We demonstrated that GIS can be a useful and inexpensive tool for the decentralisation of health data analysis to low resource settings through the use of free and simple software, locally relevant training materials and by providing data collection tools to ensure data reliability.

Estimating the Wind Resource in Uttarakhand: Comparison of Dynamic Downscaling with Doppler Lidar Wind Measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lundquist, J. K. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Pukayastha, A. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Martin, C. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Newsom, R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2014-03-01

Previous estimates of the wind resources in Uttarakhand, India, suggest minimal wind resources in this region. To explore whether or not the complex terrain in fact provides localized regions of wind resource, the authors of this study employed a dynamic down scaling method with the Weather Research and Forecasting model, providing detailed estimates of winds at approximately 1 km resolution in the finest nested simulation.

Connecting Communities to Wind Resources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baring-Gould, Edward I [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-08-18

WINDExchange is the platform for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Wind Energy Technologies Office to disseminate credible wind energy information on a national level. Stakeholder engagement and outreach activities are designed to enable well-informed decisions about appropriate wind energy deployment. WINDExchange focuses on wind energy outreach at the national level while managing and supporting similar regional efforts through the implementation of DOE Regional Resource Centers (RRCs). This fact sheet provides an overview of DOE's WINDExchange initiative and the RRCs. Examples of RRC activities are provided.

Mapping key economic indicators of onshore wind energy in Sweden by using a geospatial methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siyal, Shahid Hussain; Mentis, Dimitris; Howells, Mark

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We spatially quantified and visualized the economic indicators of onshore wind energy in Sweden. • Possible land use constraints to wind energy were taken into account. • Economic indicators were estimated on the basis of two wind turbines. • We used a GIS-based methodology for this analysis and found it very useful. • Results suggest that Sweden holds economic feasible wind energy resource, specially in the southern and central regions. - Abstract: Due to modern advancements in renewable energy systems and increasing prices of fossil fuels wind energy is getting a lot of attention all over the world. In this regard, Sweden also fixed motivated targets to get energy supply from local renewable energy resources. So, local wind power could help the country in achieving the targets. In this study, economic indicators of wind energy were spatially estimated for Sweden by using ArcGIS tool. In order to do this, as input data one-year high resolution modeled annual average wind data was processed by means of Rayleigh distribution, wind turbine power curve, land use constraints, technical constraints and economic parameters. Based on the input data, it was concluded that Sweden possesses economically feasible wind energy resource. The results of the study indicate that southern and central regions could produce economically viable wind electricity in all aspects as compared to the northern region of the country. Lastly, it was recommended to speed up wind energy penetration in Sweden, communal awareness and acceptance regarding the resource should be increased to avoid possible misunderstanding. Additionally, the capability of the national electric grid should be enhanced to take up the large scale unpredictable wind energy resource.

Wind/solar resource in Texas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nelson, V.; Starcher, K.; Gaines, H. [West Texas A& M Univ., Canyon, TX (United States)

1997-12-31

Data are being collected at 17 sites to delineate a baseline for the wind and solar resource across Texas. Wind data are being collected at 10, 25, and 40 m (in some cases at 50 m) to determine wind shear and power at hub heights of large turbines. Many of the sites are located in areas of predicted terrain enhancement. The typical day in a month for power and wind turbine output was calculated for selected sites and combination of sites; distributed systems. Major result to date is that there is the possibility of load matching in South Texas during the summer months, even though the average values by month indicate a low wind potential.

Wind power error estimation in resource assessments.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Osvaldo Rodríguez

Full Text Available Estimating the power output is one of the elements that determine the techno-economic feasibility of a renewable project. At present, there is a need to develop reliable methods that achieve this goal, thereby contributing to wind power penetration. In this study, we propose a method for wind power error estimation based on the wind speed measurement error, probability density function, and wind turbine power curves. This method uses the actual wind speed data without prior statistical treatment based on 28 wind turbine power curves, which were fitted by Lagrange's method, to calculate the estimate wind power output and the corresponding error propagation. We found that wind speed percentage errors of 10% were propagated into the power output estimates, thereby yielding an error of 5%. The proposed error propagation complements the traditional power resource assessments. The wind power estimation error also allows us to estimate intervals for the power production leveled cost or the investment time return. The implementation of this method increases the reliability of techno-economic resource assessment studies.

Wind power error estimation in resource assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez, Osvaldo; Del Río, Jesús A; Jaramillo, Oscar A; Martínez, Manuel

2015-01-01

Estimating the power output is one of the elements that determine the techno-economic feasibility of a renewable project. At present, there is a need to develop reliable methods that achieve this goal, thereby contributing to wind power penetration. In this study, we propose a method for wind power error estimation based on the wind speed measurement error, probability density function, and wind turbine power curves. This method uses the actual wind speed data without prior statistical treatment based on 28 wind turbine power curves, which were fitted by Lagrange's method, to calculate the estimate wind power output and the corresponding error propagation. We found that wind speed percentage errors of 10% were propagated into the power output estimates, thereby yielding an error of 5%. The proposed error propagation complements the traditional power resource assessments. The wind power estimation error also allows us to estimate intervals for the power production leveled cost or the investment time return. The implementation of this method increases the reliability of techno-economic resource assessment studies.

Satellite SAR wind resource mapping in China (SAR-China)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Badger, M.

2009-07-15

The project 'Off-Shore Wind Energy Resource Assessment and Feasibility Study of Off-Shore Wind Farm Development in China' is funded by the EU-China Energy and Environment Programme (EEP) and runs for one year (August 2008 - August 2009). The project is lead by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and supported by SgurrEnergy Ltd. Risoe National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy at the Technical University of Denmark (Risoe DTU) has been commissioned to perform a satellite based wind resource analysis as part of the project. The objective of this analysis is to map the wind resource offshore at a high spatial resolution (1 km). The detailed wind resource maps will be used, in combination with other data sets, for an assessment of potential sites for offshore wind farm development along the coastline from Fujian to Shandong in China. (au)

Asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources in Australia

KAUST Repository

Gunturu, Udaya

2017-08-14

Wind and hydropower together constitute nearly 80% of the renewable capacity in Australia and their resources are collocated. We show that wind and hydro generation capacity factors covary negatively at the interannual time scales. Thus, the technology diversity mitigates the variability of renewable power generation at the interannual scales. The asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources is explained by the differential impact of the two modes of the El Ni˜no Southern Oscillation – canonical and Modoki – on the wind and hydro resources. Also, the Modoki El Ni˜no and the Modoki La Ni˜na phases have greater impact. The seasonal impact patterns corroborate these results. As the proportion of wind power increases in Australia’s energy mix, this negative covariation has implications for storage capacity of excess wind generation at short time scales and for generation system adequacy at the longer time scales.

Asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources in Australia

KAUST Repository

Gunturu, Udaya; Hallgren, Willow

2017-01-01

Wind and hydropower together constitute nearly 80% of the renewable capacity in Australia and their resources are collocated. We show that wind and hydro generation capacity factors covary negatively at the interannual time scales. Thus, the technology diversity mitigates the variability of renewable power generation at the interannual scales. The asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources is explained by the differential impact of the two modes of the El Ni˜no Southern Oscillation – canonical and Modoki – on the wind and hydro resources. Also, the Modoki El Ni˜no and the Modoki La Ni˜na phases have greater impact. The seasonal impact patterns corroborate these results. As the proportion of wind power increases in Australia’s energy mix, this negative covariation has implications for storage capacity of excess wind generation at short time scales and for generation system adequacy at the longer time scales.

Asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunturu, Udaya Bhaskar; Hallgren, Willow

2017-08-18

Wind and hydropower together constitute nearly 80% of the renewable capacity in Australia and their resources are collocated. We show that wind and hydro generation capacity factors covary negatively at the interannual time scales. Thus, the technology diversity mitigates the variability of renewable power generation at the interannual scales. The asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources is explained by the differential impact of the two modes of the El Ni˜no Southern Oscillation - canonical and Modoki - on the wind and hydro resources. Also, the Modoki El Ni˜no and the Modoki La Ni˜na phases have greater impact. The seasonal impact patterns corroborate these results. As the proportion of wind power increases in Australia's energy mix, this negative covariation has implications for storage capacity of excess wind generation at short time scales and for generation system adequacy at the longer time scales.

The potential wind power resource in Australia: a new perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallgren, Willow; Gunturu, Udaya Bhaskar; Schlosser, Adam

2014-01-01

Australia's wind resource is considered to be very good, and the utilization of this renewable energy resource is increasing rapidly: wind power installed capacity increased by 35% from 2006 to 2011 and is predicted to account for over 12% of Australia's electricity generation in 2030. Due to this growth in the utilization of the wind resource and the increasing importance of wind power in Australia's energy mix, this study sets out to analyze and interpret the nature of Australia's wind resources using robust metrics of the abundance, variability and intermittency of wind power density, and analyzes the variation of these characteristics with current and potential wind turbine hub heights. We also assess the extent to which wind intermittency, on hourly or greater timescales, can potentially be mitigated by the aggregation of geographically dispersed wind farms, and in so doing, lessen the severe impact on wind power economic viability of long lulls in wind and power generated. Our results suggest that over much of Australia, areas that have high wind intermittency coincide with large expanses in which the aggregation of turbine output does not mitigate variability. These areas are also geographically remote, some are disconnected from the east coast's electricity grid and large population centers, which are factors that could decrease the potential economic viability of wind farms in these locations. However, on the eastern seaboard, even though the wind resource is weaker, it is less variable, much closer to large population centers, and there exists more potential to mitigate it's intermittency through aggregation. This study forms a necessary precursor to the analysis of the impact of large-scale circulations and oscillations on the wind resource at the mesoscale.

Evaluating renewable natural resources flow and net primary productivity with a GIS-Emergy approach: A case study of Hokkaido, Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chengdong; Zhang, Shenyan; Yan, Wanglin; Wang, Renqing; Liu, Jian; Wang, Yutao

2016-11-18

Renewable natural resources, such as solar radiation, rainfall, wind, and geothermal heat, together with ecosystem services, provide the elementary supports for the sustainable development of human society. To improve regional sustainability, we studied the spatial distributions and quantities of renewable natural resources and net primary productivity (NPP) in Hokkaido, which is the second largest island of Japan. With the help of Geographic Information System (GIS) software, distribution maps for each type of renewable natural resource were generated by kriging interpolation based on statistical records. A composite map of the flow of all types of renewable natural resources was also generated by map layer overlapping. Additionally, we utilized emergy analysis to convert each renewable flow with different attributes into a unified unit (i.e., solar equivalent joules [sej]). As a result, the spatial distributions of the flow of renewable natural resources of the Hokkaido region are presented in the form of thematic emergy maps. Thus, the areas with higher renewable emergy can be easily visualized and identified. The dominant renewable flow in certain areas can also be directly distinguished. The results can provide useful information for regional sustainable development, environmental conservation and ecological management.

The Potential Wind Power Resource in Australia: A New Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Hallgren, Willow; Gunturu, Udaya Bhaskar; Schlosser, Adam

2014-01-01

Australia’s wind resource is considered to be very good, and the utilization of this renewable energy resource is increasing rapidly: wind power installed capacity increased by 35% from 2006 to 2011 and is predicted to account for over 12% of Australia’s electricity generation in 2030. Due to this growth in the utilization of the wind resource and the increasing importance of wind power in Australia’s energy mix, this study sets out to analyze and interpret the nature of Australia’s wind resources using robust metrics of the abundance, variability and intermittency of wind power density, and analyzes the variation of these characteristics with current and potential wind turbine hub heights. We also assess the extent to which wind intermittency, on hourly or greater timescales, can potentially be mitigated by the aggregation of geographically dispersed wind farms, and in so doing, lessen the severe impact on wind power economic viability of long lulls in wind and power generated. Our results suggest that over much of Australia, areas that have high wind intermittency coincide with large expanses in which the aggregation of turbine output does not mitigate variability. These areas are also geographically remote, some are disconnected from the east coast’s electricity grid and large population centers, which are factors that could decrease the potential economic viability of wind farms in these locations. However, on the eastern seaboard, even though the wind resource is weaker, it is less variable, much closer to large population centers, and there exists more potential to mitigate it’s intermittency through aggregation. This study forms a necessary precursor to the analysis of the impact of large-scale circulations and oscillations on the wind resource at the mesoscale. PMID:24988222

The potential wind power resource in Australia: a new perspective.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Willow Hallgren

Full Text Available Australia's wind resource is considered to be very good, and the utilization of this renewable energy resource is increasing rapidly: wind power installed capacity increased by 35% from 2006 to 2011 and is predicted to account for over 12% of Australia's electricity generation in 2030. Due to this growth in the utilization of the wind resource and the increasing importance of wind power in Australia's energy mix, this study sets out to analyze and interpret the nature of Australia's wind resources using robust metrics of the abundance, variability and intermittency of wind power density, and analyzes the variation of these characteristics with current and potential wind turbine hub heights. We also assess the extent to which wind intermittency, on hourly or greater timescales, can potentially be mitigated by the aggregation of geographically dispersed wind farms, and in so doing, lessen the severe impact on wind power economic viability of long lulls in wind and power generated. Our results suggest that over much of Australia, areas that have high wind intermittency coincide with large expanses in which the aggregation of turbine output does not mitigate variability. These areas are also geographically remote, some are disconnected from the east coast's electricity grid and large population centers, which are factors that could decrease the potential economic viability of wind farms in these locations. However, on the eastern seaboard, even though the wind resource is weaker, it is less variable, much closer to large population centers, and there exists more potential to mitigate it's intermittency through aggregation. This study forms a necessary precursor to the analysis of the impact of large-scale circulations and oscillations on the wind resource at the mesoscale.

Wind energy resource assessment in Madrid region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Migoya, Emilio; Crespo, Antonio; Jimenez, Angel; Garcia, Javier; Manuel, Fernando [Laboratorio de Mecanica de Fluidos, Departamento de Ingenieria Energetica y Fluidomecanica, Escuela Tecnica Superior Ingenieros Industriales (ETSII), Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), C/Jose Gutierrez Abascal, 2-28006, Madrid (Spain)

2007-07-15

The Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid (Autonomous Community of Madrid, in the following Madrid Region), is a region located at the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula. Its area is 8.028 km{sup 2}, and its population about five million people. The Department of Economy and Technological Innovation of the Madrid Region, together with some organizations dealing on energy saving and other research institutions have elaborated an Energy Plan for the 2004-12 period. As a part of this work, the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory of the Superior Technical School of Industrial Engineers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid has carried out the assessment of the wind energy resources [Crespo A, Migoya E, Gomez Elvira R. La energia eolica en Madrid. Potencialidad y prospectiva. Plan energetico de la Comunidad de Madrid, 2004-2012. Madrid: Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid; 2004]; using for this task the WAsP program (Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program), and the own codes, UPMORO (code to study orography effects) and UPMPARK (code to study wake effects in wind parks). Different kinds of data have been collected about climate, topography, roughness of the land, environmentally protected areas, town and village distribution, population density, main facilities and electric power supply. The Spanish National Meteorological Institute has nine wind measurement stations in the region, but only four of them have good and reliable temporary wind data, with time measurement periods that are long enough to provide representative correlations among stations. The Observed Wind Climates of the valid meteorological stations have been made. The Wind Atlas and the resource grid have been calculated, especially in the high wind resource areas, selecting appropriate measurements stations and using criteria based on proximity, similarity and ruggedness index. Some areas cannot be used as a wind energy resource mainly because they have environmental regulation or, in some cases, are very close

High-altitude wind resources in the Middle East

KAUST Repository

Yip, Chak Man Andrew; Gunturu, Udaya; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

2017-01-01

In the Middle East, near-surface wind resources are intermittent. However, high-altitude wind resources are abundant, persistent, and readily available and may provide alternative energy resources in this fossil-fuel-dependent region. Using wind field data from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), this study identifies areas favorable to the deployment of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems in the Middle East and computes the optimal heights at which such systems would best operate. AWE potential is estimated using realistic AWE system specifications and assumptions about deployment scenarios and is compared with the near-surface wind generation potential with respect to diurnal and seasonal variability. The results show the potential utility of AWE in areas in the Middle East where the energy demand is high. In particular, Oman and Saudi Arabia have a high level of the potential power generation with low annual variability.

High-altitude wind resources in the Middle East

KAUST Repository

Yip, Chak Man Andrew

2017-08-23

In the Middle East, near-surface wind resources are intermittent. However, high-altitude wind resources are abundant, persistent, and readily available and may provide alternative energy resources in this fossil-fuel-dependent region. Using wind field data from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), this study identifies areas favorable to the deployment of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems in the Middle East and computes the optimal heights at which such systems would best operate. AWE potential is estimated using realistic AWE system specifications and assumptions about deployment scenarios and is compared with the near-surface wind generation potential with respect to diurnal and seasonal variability. The results show the potential utility of AWE in areas in the Middle East where the energy demand is high. In particular, Oman and Saudi Arabia have a high level of the potential power generation with low annual variability.

Comparison of SAR Wind Speed Retrieval Algorithms for Evaluating Offshore Wind Energy Resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kozai, K.; Ohsawa, T.; Takeyama, Y.

2010-01-01

Envisat/ASAR-derived offshore wind speeds and energy densities based on 4 different SAR wind speed retrieval algorithms (CMOD4, CMOD-IFR2, CMOD5, CMOD5.N) are compared with observed wind speeds and energy densities for evaluating offshore wind energy resources. CMOD4 ignores effects of atmospheri...

Improved Offshore Wind Resource Assessment in Global Climate Stabilization Scenarios

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arent, D.; Sullivan, P.; Heimiller, D.; Lopez, A.; Eurek, K.; Badger, J.; Jorgensen, H. E.; Kelly, M.; Clarke, L.; Luckow, P.

2012-10-01

This paper introduces a technique for digesting geospatial wind-speed data into areally defined -- country-level, in this case -- wind resource supply curves. We combined gridded wind-vector data for ocean areas with bathymetry maps, country exclusive economic zones, wind turbine power curves, and other datasets and relevant parameters to build supply curves that estimate a country's offshore wind resource defined by resource quality, depth, and distance-from-shore. We include a single set of supply curves -- for a particular assumption set -- and study some implications of including it in a global energy model. We also discuss the importance of downscaling gridded wind vector data to capturing the full resource potential, especially over land areas with complex terrain. This paper includes motivation and background for a statistical downscaling methodology to account for terrain effects with a low computational burden. Finally, we use this forum to sketch a framework for building synthetic electric networks to estimate transmission accessibility of renewable resource sites in remote areas.

2016 Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Musial, Walt [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heimiller, Donna [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Beiter, Philipp [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Scott, George [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Draxl, Caroline [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-09-01

This report, the 2016 Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for the United States, was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and updates a previous national resource assessment study, and refines and reaffirms that the available wind resource is sufficient for offshore wind to be a large-scale contributor to the nation's electric energy supply.

Where, when and how much wind is available? A provincial-scale wind resource assessment for China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Gang; Kammen, Daniel M.

2014-01-01

China's wind installed capacity has grown at a remarkable rate, over 80% annually average growth since 2005, reaching 91.5 GW of capacity by end of 2013, accounting for over 27% of global capacity. This rapid growth has been the result of a domestic manufacturing base and favorable national policies. Further evolution will be greatly aided with a detailed wind resource assessment that incorporates spatial and temporal variability across China. We utilized 200 representative locations for which 10 years of hourly wind speed data exist to develop provincial capacity factors from 2001 to 2010, and to build analytic wind speed profiles. From these data and analysis we find that China's annual wind generation could reach 2000 TWh to 3500 TWh. Nationally this would correspond to an average capacity factor of 0.18. The diurnal and seasonal variation shows spring and winter has better wind resources than in the summer and fall. A highly interconnected and coordinated power system is needed to effectively exploit this large but variable resource. A full economic assessment of exploitable wind resources demands a larger, systems-level analysis of China's energy options, for which this work is a core requirement. - Highlights: • We assessed China's wind resources by utilizing 10 years of hourly wind speed data of 200 sites. • We built provincial scale wind speed profiles and develop provincial capacity factors for China. • We found that China's wind generation could reach 2000 TWh to 3500 TWh annually. • We observed similar temporal variation pattern of wind availability across China

Wind energy resource atlas. Volume 7. The south central region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edwards, R.L.; Graves, L.F.; Sprankle, A.C.; Elliott, D.L.; Barchet, W.R.; George, R.L.

1981-03-01

This atlas of the south central region combines seven collections of wind resource data: one for the region, and one for each of the six states (Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas). At the state level, features of the climate, topography, and wind resource are discussed in greater detail than that provided in the regional discussion, and the data locations on which the assessment is based are mapped. Variations, over several time scales, in the wind resource at selected stations in each state are shown on graphs of monthly average and interannual wind speed and power, and hourly average wind speed for each season. Other graphs present speed, direction, and duration frequencies of the wind at these locations.

Wind resource characterization in the Arabian Peninsula

KAUST Repository

Yip, Chak Man Andrew; Gunturu, Udaya; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

2015-01-01

Wind energy is expected to contribute to alleviating the rise in energy demand in the Middle East that is driven by population growth and industrial development. However, variability and intermittency in the wind resource present significant

Planning and Development of Wind Farms: Wind Resource Assessment and Siting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Niels Gylling

These course notes are intended for the three-week course 45700 Planning and Development of Wind Farms given at the Technical University of Denmark. The purpose of the course notes is to give an introduction to wind resource assessment and siting issues using the WAsP suite of programs....

Planning and Development of Wind Farms: Wind Resource Assessment and Siting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Niels Gylling

These course notes are intended for the three-week course 46200 Planning and Development of Wind Farms given at the Technical University of Denmark. The purpose of the course notes is to give an introduction to wind resource assessment and siting issues using the WAsP suite of programs....

A GIS tool for the economic assessment of renewable technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmmud, F.; Woods, J.; Watson, S.; Halliday, J.; Hossain, J.

1997-01-01

A Geographical Information System (GIS) has the potential to analyse a large area for the optimum selection and siting of renewable energy systems. This paper reports on a GIS based scheme for the economic assessment of a selected number of wind and photovoltaic systems in the state of Karnataka, in India. This involved the implementation of an appropriate GIS methodology. The preparation of the GIS database is often the most arduous task in GIS operations. Thus, a description of the GIS methodology and the preparation of the database for the analysis of a selection of wind and photovoltaic systems is given. This approach has enabled the identification of the high potential areas in terms of the levelised electricity costs. An overall assessment of the region for present and future scenarios is also given. (author)

Danish-Czech wind resource know-how transfer project. Interim report 2002

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rathmann, O.; Noergaerd, P.; Frandsen, S.

2003-12-01

The progress of the Danish-Czech Wind Resource Know-how Transfer Project is reported. The know-how transfer component of the project has consisted in performing a wind resource training workshop for about 13 individuals from the Czech Republic, ranging from scientists to wind farm project developers, and in donating modern software for evaluating wind resources. The project has also included a review of a Czech overview-study of wind speeds inside the country as well as a study of the electricity tariffs and their impact on wind energy utilization in the Czech Republic. A problematic existing Czech wind farm project, locked up in a no-production situation, was also addressed. However, this situation turned out to be related to problems with economy and owner-ship to a higher degree than to low wind resources and technical problems, and it was not possible for the project to point out a way out of this situation. (au)

Danish-Czech wind resource know-how transfer project. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rathmann, O.; Noergaerd, P.; Frandsen, S.

2004-06-01

The course of the Danish-Czech Wind Resource Know-how Transfer Project is reported. The know-how transfer component of the project has consisted in performing a wind resource training work-shop for about 13 individuals from the Czech Republic, ranging from scientists to wind farm project developers, and in donating modern software for evaluating wind resources. The project has also included a review of a Czech overview-study of wind speeds inside the country as well as an investigation of the electricity tariffs and their impact on wind energy utilization in the Czech Republic. A problematic existing Czech wind farm project, locked up in a no-production situation, was also addressed. Not until the purchase by a new owner-company, which initiated the necessary repair and maintenance, the wind farm resumed normal operation. As its last task, the present project assisted in consolidating future operation through a helping package consisting of a training course for the wind farm technicians and in a package of relevant spare parts. (au)

Wind Energy Assessment for Small Urban Communities in the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

OpenAIRE

Quetzalcoatl Hernandez-Escobedo

2016-01-01

Mexico needs to exploit its renewable resources and many studies have determined the great renewable potential it has using wind energy. However it is necessary to calculate the amount of this resource for small urban communities, which in this country lack essential services such as electricity. This study is focused in the Baja California Peninsula, using GIS as a tool to identify small urban zones with higher wind power. For this work data was analyzed from meteorological stations and reco...

The wind resource assessment program in Quebec Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kahawita, R.; Bilodeau, L.; Gaudette, M.; Gratton, Y.; Noel, R.; Quach, T.T.

1982-09-01

This paper provides an overview of the wind resource assessment programme undertaken by the provincial power utility Hydro-Quebec, in Quebec, Canada. The methodology used in different phases of the project is enunciated and explained and the results discussed. Supplementary studies of airflow over complex terrain using numerical modelling are described and the results evaluated. Since the program is still far from completion, conclusive statements cannot, at this time, be made about the viability of the wind energy resource. However, tentative conclusions are that wind energy as an alternate source of energy for the province is likely to be commerciaally viable since two of the most important requirements viz, the presence of a good wind regime and the availability of suitable land are satisfied in many regions.

Applicability of Synthetic Aperture Radar Wind Retrievals on Offshore Wind Resources Assessment in Hangzhou Bay, China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chang, Rui; Zhu, Rong; Badger, Merete

2014-01-01

In view of the high cost and sparse spatial resolution of offshore meteorological observations, ocean winds retrieved from satellites are valuable in offshore wind resource assessment as a supplement to in situ measurements. This study examines satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from...... ENVISAT advanced SAR (ASAR) for mapping wind resources with high spatial resolution. Around 181 collected pairs of wind data from SAR wind maps and from 13 meteorological stations in Hangzhou Bay are compared. The statistical results comparing in situ wind speed and SAR-based wind speed show a standard...... density functions are compared at one meteorological station. The SAR-based results appear not to estimate the mean wind speed, Weibull scale and shape parameters and wind power density from the full in situ data set so well due to the lower number of satellite samples. Distributions calculated from...

Estimation of wind and solar resources in Mali

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Badger, J.; Kamissoko, F.; Olander Rasmussen, M.; Larsen, Soeren; Guidon, N.; Boye Hansen, L.; Dewilde, L.; Alhousseini, M.; Noergaard, P.; Nygaard, I.

2012-11-15

The wind resource has been estimated for all of Mali at 7.5 km resolution using the KAMM/WAsP numerical wind atlas methodology. Three domains were used to cover entire country and three sets of wind classes used to capture change in large scale forcing over country. The final output includes generalized climate statistics for any location in Mali, giving wind direction and wind speed distribution. The modelled generalized climate statistics can be used directly in the WAsP software. The preliminary results show a wind resource, which is relatively low, but which under certain conditions may be economically feasible, i.e. at favourably exposed sites, giving enhanced winds, and where practical utilization is possible, given consideration to grid connection or replacement or augmentation of diesel-based electricity systems. The solar energy resource for Mali was assessed for the period between July 2008 and June 2011 using a remote sensing based estimate of the down-welling surface shortwave flux. The remote sensing estimates were adjusted on a month-by-month basis to account for seasonal differences between the remote sensing estimates and in situ data. Calibration was found to improve the coefficient of determination as well as decreasing the mean error both for the calibration and validation data. Compared to the results presented in the ''Renewable energy resources in Mali - preliminary mapping''-report that showed a tendency for underestimation compared to data from the NASA PPOWER/SSE database, the presented results show a very good agreement with the in situ data (after calibration) with no significant bias. Unfortunately, the NASA-database only contains data up until 2005, so a similar comparison could not be done for the time period analyzed in this study, although the agreement with the historic NASA data is still useful as reference. (LN)

Offshore wind power resource assessment using Oceansat-2 scatterometer data at a regional scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gadad, Sanjeev; Deka, Paresh Chandra

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Accuracy assessment of Oceansat-2 scatterometer (OSCAT) winds by the in situ real-time ship observations for study area. • OSCAT data for two years (2011 and 2012) were used to evaluate the offshore wind power potential for the Karnataka state. • Wind speed and power atlases are developed to study the spatial distribution over study area. • 9,091 MW potential was estimated using 5 MW wind turbine in the Monopile region. • Recommend development of 10% of the estimated potential, 116% of energy deficit for 2012–13 can be met. - Abstract: In the offshore region the scarcity of in situ wind data in space proves to be a major setback for wind power potential assessments. Satellite data effectively overcomes this setback by providing continuous and total spatial coverage. The study intends to assess the offshore wind power resource of the Karnataka state, which is located on the west coast of India. Oceansat-2 scatterometer (OSCAT) wind data and GIS based methodology were adopted in the study. The OSCAT data accuracy was assessed using INCOIS Realtime All Weather Station (IRAWS) data. Wind speed maps at 10 m, 90 m and wind power density maps using OSCAT data were developed to understand the spatial distribution of winds over the study area. Bathymetric map was developed based on the available foundation types and demarking various exclusion zones to help in minimizing conflicts. The wind power generation capacity estimation performed using REpower 5 MW turbine, based on the water depth classes was found to be 9,091 MW in Monopile (0–35 m), 11,709 MW in Jacket (35–50 m), 23,689 MW in Advanced Jacket (50–100 m) and 117,681 MW in Floating (100–1000 m) foundation technology. In Indian scenario major thrust for wind farm development in Monopile region is required. Therefore as first phase of development, if 10% of the estimated potential in the region can be developed then, 116% of energy deficit for FY 2011–12 could be met. Also, up to 79

Offshore Wind Energy in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Möller, Bernd; Hong, Lixuan; Hvelplund, Frede

for Denmark and invites to reconsider the technological and institutional choices made. Based on a continuous resource-economic model operating in a geographical information systems (GIS) environment, which describes resources, costs and area constraints in a spatially explicit way, the relation between......Offshore wind energy has developed in terms of turbine and project size, and currently undergoes a significant up-scaling to turbines and parks at greater distance to shore and deeper waters. Expectations to the positive effect of economies of scale on power production costs, however, have...... availability of locations, driven by accelerating requirements of environmental concern, park size and public acceptance, is one important driver. Mounting risk of mega-projects and the infinite demand for renewable energy is another likely cause. The present paper addresses the scale of offshore wind parks...

Wind resource assessment in heterogeneous terrain

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderwel, C.; Placidi, M.; Ganapathisubramani, B.

2017-03-01

High-resolution particle image velocimetry data obtained in rough-wall boundary layer experiments are re-analysed to examine the influence of surface roughness heterogeneities on wind resource. Two different types of heterogeneities are examined: (i) surfaces with repeating roughness units of the order of the boundary layer thickness (Placidi & Ganapathisubramani. 2015 J. Fluid Mech. 782, 541-566. (doi:10.1017/jfm.2015.552)) and (ii) surfaces with streamwise-aligned elevated strips that mimic adjacent hills and valleys (Vanderwel & Ganapathisubramani. 2015 J. Fluid Mech. 774, 1-12. (doi:10.1017/jfm.2015.228)). For the first case, the data show that the power extraction potential is highly dependent on the surface morphology with a variation of up to 20% in the available wind resource across the different surfaces examined. A strong correlation is shown to exist between the frontal and plan solidities of the rough surfaces and the equivalent wind speed, and hence the wind resource potential. These differences are also found in profiles of graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="RSTA20160109IM1"/> and graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="RSTA20160109IM2"/> (where U is the streamwise velocity), which act as proxies for thrust and power output. For the second case, the secondary flows that cause low- and high-momentum pathways when the spacing between adjacent hills is beyond a critical value result in significant variations in wind resource availability. Contour maps of graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="RSTA20160109IM3"/> and graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="RSTA20160109IM4"/> show a large difference in thrust and power potential (over 50%) between hills and valleys (at a fixed vertical height). These variations do not seem to be present when adjacent hills are close to each other (i.e. when the spacing is much less than the boundary layer thickness). The

Wind Energy Assessment for Small Urban Communities in the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quetzalcoatl Hernandez-Escobedo

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Mexico needs to exploit its renewable resources and many studies have determined the great renewable potential it has using wind energy. However it is necessary to calculate the amount of this resource for small urban communities, which in this country lack essential services such as electricity. This study is focused in the Baja California Peninsula, using GIS as a tool to identify small urban zones with higher wind power. For this work data was analyzed from meteorological stations and recorded every 10 min for two years (2012–2014. Weibull distribution, linear regression, kriging interpolation, power and energy output and useful hours were calculated for each station. It was found that the total energy generated is 38,603,666 kWh per year and the mean of useful hours is 5220 h per year for the whole Peninsula. Maps of Wind Power Density (WPD show a good power per square meter, GIS shows the areas with the most wind power where it can be used i.e., the state of Baja California wind power can generate electricity for 12% of those communities, meanwhile for Baja California Sur, the electric power generation could electrify almost 25% of the total of small urban communities.

Wind energy resource atlas. Volume 8. The southern Rocky Mountain region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andersen, S.R.; Freeman, D.L.; Hadley, D.L.; Elliott, D.L.; Barchet, W.R.; George, R.L.

1981-03-01

The Southern Rocky Mountain atlas assimilates five collections of wind resource data: one for the region and one for each of the four states that compose the Southern Rocky Mountain region (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah). At the state level, features of the climate, topography and wind resource are discussed in greater detail than is provided in the regional discussion, and the data locations on which the assessment is based are mapped. Variations, over several time scales, in the wind resource at selected stations in each state are shown on graphs of monthly average and interannual wind speed and power, and hourly average wind speed for each season. Other graphs present speed, direction, and duration frequencies of the wind at these locations.

Distributed Wind Resource Assessment: State of the Industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fields, Jason [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Tinnesand, Heidi [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Baring-Gould, Ian [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-06-01

In support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO) goals, researchers from DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) are investigating the Distributed Wind Resource Assessment (DWRA) process, which includes pre-construction energy estimation as well as turbine site suitability assessment. DWRA can have a direct impact on the Wind Program goals of maximizing stakeholder confidence in turbine performance and safety as well as reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). One of the major components of the LCOE equation is annual energy production. DWRA improvements can maximize the annual energy production, thereby lowering the overall LCOE and improving stakeholder confidence in the distributed wind technology sector by providing more accurate predictions of power production. Over the long term, one of the most significant benefits of a more defined DWRA process could be new turbine designs, tuned to site-specific characteristics that will help the distributed wind industry follow a similar trajectory to the low-wind-speed designs in the utility-scale industry sector. By understanding the wind resource better, the industry could install larger rotors, capture more energy, and as a result, increase deployment while lowering the LCOE. a direct impact on the Wind Program goals of maximizing stakeholder confidence in turbine performance and safety as well as reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). One of the major components of the LCOE equation is annual energy production. DWRA improvements can maximize the annual energy production, thereby lowering the overall LCOE and improving stakeholder confidence in the distributed wind technology sector by providing more accurate predictions of power production. Over the long term, one of the most significant benefits of a more defined DWRA process could be new turbine designs, tuned to site-specific characteristics that

Could Crop Height Affect the Wind Resource at Agriculturally Productive Wind Farm Sites?

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderwende, Brian; Lundquist, Julie K.

2016-03-01

The collocation of cropland and wind turbines in the US Midwest region introduces complex meteorological interactions that could influence both agriculture and wind-power production. Crop management practices may affect the wind resource through alterations of land-surface properties. We use the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model to estimate the impact of crop height variations on the wind resource in the presence of a large turbine array. A hypothetical wind farm consisting of 121 1.8-MW turbines is represented using the WRF model wind-farm parametrization. We represent the impact of selecting soybeans rather than maize by altering the aerodynamic roughness length in a region approximately 65 times larger than that occupied by the turbine array. Roughness lengths of 0.1 and 0.25 m represent the mature soy crop and a mature maize crop, respectively. In all but the most stable atmospheric conditions, statistically significant hub-height wind-speed increases and rotor-layer wind-shear reductions result from switching from maize to soybeans. Based on simulations for the entire month of August 2013, wind-farm energy output increases by 14 %, which would yield a significant monetary gain. Further investigation is required to determine the optimal size, shape, and crop height of the roughness modification to maximize the economic benefit and minimize the cost of such crop-management practices. These considerations must be balanced by other influences on crop choice such as soil requirements and commodity prices.

An Improved Global Wind Resource Estimate for Integrated Assessment Models: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eurek, Kelly [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sullivan, Patrick [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Gleason, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hettinger, Dylan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heimiller, Donna [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lopez, Anthony [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-02-01

This paper summarizes initial steps to improving the robustness and accuracy of global renewable resource and techno-economic assessments for use in integrated assessment models. We outline a method to construct country-level wind resource supply curves, delineated by resource quality and other parameters. Using mesoscale reanalysis data, we generate estimates for wind quality, both terrestrial and offshore, across the globe. Because not all land or water area is suitable for development, appropriate database layers provide exclusions to reduce the total resource to its technical potential. We expand upon estimates from related studies by: using a globally consistent data source of uniquely detailed wind speed characterizations; assuming a non-constant coefficient of performance for adjusting power curves for altitude; categorizing the distance from resource sites to the electric power grid; and characterizing offshore exclusions on the basis of sea ice concentrations. The product, then, is technical potential by country, classified by resource quality as determined by net capacity factor. Additional classifications dimensions are available, including distance to transmission networks for terrestrial wind and distance to shore and water depth for offshore. We estimate the total global wind generation potential of 560 PWh for terrestrial wind with 90% of resource classified as low-to-mid quality, and 315 PWh for offshore wind with 67% classified as mid-to-high quality. These estimates are based on 3.5 MW composite wind turbines with 90 m hub heights, 0.95 availability, 90% array efficiency, and 5 MW/km2 deployment density in non-excluded areas. We compare the underlying technical assumption and results with other global assessments.

Wind power in Scotland - a critique of recent resource assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Twidell, J.W.

1995-01-01

A critical analysis of 4 recent UK official reports relating to the renewable energy resources of Scotland, particularly the large wind resource, and including institutional and economic factors. Key points are listed with comments for use in supporting wind power developments. (Author)

Land Use, Land Conservation, and Wind Energy Development Outcomes in New England

Science.gov (United States)

Weimar, William Cameron

This dissertation provides three independent research inquiries. The first examines how inter-governmental policy, site-specific, and social factors lead to the success, prolonged delay, or failure of inland wind power projects in New England. The three case studies examined include the 48 megawatt Glebe Mountain Wind Farm proposal in southern Vermont, the 30 megawatt Hoosac Wind Farm in western Massachusetts, and the 24 megawatt Lempster Wind Farm in southern New Hampshire. To ascertain why the project outcomes varied, 45 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders, including wind development firms, utility companies, state regulatory agencies, regional planning commissions, town officials, land conservation organizations, and opposition groups. The second study establishes a comprehensive set of thirty-seven explanatory variables to determine the amount of suitable land and the corresponding electricity generation potential within the prime wind resource areas of Western Massachusetts. The explanatory variables are incorporated into Boolean GIS suitability models which represent the two divergent positions towards wind power development in Massachusetts, and a third, balanced model. The third study determines that exurban residential development is not the only land use factor that reduces wind power development potential in Western Massachusetts. A set of Boolean GIS models for 1985 and 2009 find the onset of conservation easements on private lands having the largest impact. During this 25 year period a combination of land use conversion and land conservation has reduced the access to prime wind resource areas by 18% (11,601 hectares), an equivalent loss of 5,800--8,700 GWh/year of zero carbon electricity generation. The six main findings from this research are: (1) Visual aesthetics remain the main factor of opposition to specific projects; (2) The Not-in-my Backyard debate for wind power remains unsettled; (3) Widespread support

Groundwater resource exploration in Salem district, Tamil Nadu using GIS and remote sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Maheswaran, G.; Selvarani, A. Geetha; Elangovan, K.

2016-03-01

Since last decade, the value per barrel of potable groundwater has outpaced the value of a barrel of oil in many areas of the world. Hence, proper assessment of groundwater potential and management practices are the needs of the day. Establishing relationship between remote sensing data and hydrologic phenomenon can maximize the efficiency of water resources development projects. Present study focuses on groundwater potential assessment in Salem district, Tamil Nadu to investigate groundwater resource potential. At the same, all thematic layers important from ground water occurrence and movement point of view were digitized and integrated in the GIS environment. The weights of different parameters/themes were computed using weighed index overlay analysis (WIOA), analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy logic technique. Through this integrated GIS analysis, groundwater prospect map of the study area was prepared qualitatively. Field verification at observation wells was used to verify identified potential zones and depth of water measured at observation wells. Generated map from weighed overlay using AHP performed very well in predicting the groundwater surface and hence this methodology proves to be a promising tool for future.

Remapping of the Wind Energy Resource in the Midwestern United States: Preprint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwartz, M.; Elliot, D.

2001-01-01

A recent increase in interest and development of wind energy in the Midwestern United States has focused the need for updating wind resource maps of this area. The wind resource assessment group at the National Renewable Energy Lab., a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory, has produced updated high-resolution (1-km) wind resource maps for several states in this region. This abstract describes the computerized tools and methodology used by NREL to create the higher resolution maps

Nebraska wind resource assessment first year results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hurley, P.J.F.; Vilhauer, R. [RLA Consulting, Inc., Bothell, WA (United States); Stooksbury, D. [Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)

1996-12-31

This paper presents the preliminary results from a wind resource assessment program in Nebraska sponsored by the Nebraska Power Association. During the first year the measured annual wind speed at 40 meters ranged from 6.5 - 7.5 m/s (14.6 - 16.8 mph) at eight stations across the state. The site selection process is discussed as well as an overview of the site characteristics at the monitoring locations. Results from the first year monitoring period including data recovery rate, directionality, average wind speeds, wind shear, and turbulence intensity are presented. Results from the eight sites are qualitatively compared with other midwest and west coast locations. 5 figs., 2 tabs.

Wind resource modelling for micro-siting - Validation at a 60-MW wind farm site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, J C; Gylling Mortensen, N [Risoe National Lab., Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics Dept., Roskilde (Denmark); Said, U S [New and Renewable Energy Authority, Cairo (Egypt)

1999-03-01

This paper investigates and validates the applicability of the WAsP-model for layout optimization and micro-siting of wind turbines at a given site for a 60-MW wind farm at Zafarana at the Gulf of Suez in Egypt. Previous investigations show large gradients in the wind climate within the area. For the design and optimization of the wind farm it was found necessary to verify the WAsP extrapolation of wind atlas results from 2 existing meteorological masts located 5 and 10 km, respectively, from the wind farm site. On-site measurements at the 3.5 x 3.5 km{sup 2} wind farm site in combination with 7 years of near-site wind atlas measurements offer significant amounts of data for verification of wind conditions for micro-siting. Wind speeds, wind directions, turbulence intensities and guests in 47.5 m a.g.l. have been measured at 9 locations across the site. Additionally, one of the site masts is equipped as a reference mast, measuring both vertical profiles of wind speed and temperature as well as air pressure and temperature. The exercise is further facilitated by the fact that winds are highly uni-directional; the north direction accounting for 80-90% of the wind resource. The paper presents comparisons of 5 months of on-site measurements and modeled predictions from 2 existing meteorological masts located at distances of 5 and 10 km, respectively, from the wind farm site. Predictions based on terrain descriptions of the Wind Atlas for the Gulf of Suez 1991-95 showed over-predictions of wind speeds of 4-10%. With calibrated terrain descriptions, made based on measured data and a re-visit to critical parts of the terrain, the average prediction error of wind speeds was reduced to about 1%. These deviations are smaller than generally expected for such wind resource modeling, clearly documenting the validity of using WAsP modeling for micro-siting and layout optimization of the wind farm. (au)

Wind Tunnel Management and Resource Optimization: A Systems Modeling Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Derya, A.; Aasen, Curtis A.

2000-01-01

Time, money, and, personnel are becoming increasingly scarce resources within government agencies due to a reduction in funding and the desire to demonstrate responsible economic efficiency. The ability of an organization to plan and schedule resources effectively can provide the necessary leverage to improve productivity, provide continuous support to all projects, and insure flexibility in a rapidly changing environment. Without adequate internal controls the organization is forced to rely on external support, waste precious resources, and risk an inefficient response to change. Management systems must be developed and applied that strive to maximize the utility of existing resources in order to achieve the goal of "faster, cheaper, better". An area of concern within NASA Langley Research Center was the scheduling, planning, and resource management of the Wind Tunnel Enterprise operations. Nine wind tunnels make up the Enterprise. Prior to this research, these wind tunnel groups did not employ a rigorous or standardized management planning system. In addition, each wind tunnel unit operated from a position of autonomy, with little coordination of clients, resources, or project control. For operating and planning purposes, each wind tunnel operating unit must balance inputs from a variety of sources. Although each unit is managed by individual Facility Operations groups, other stakeholders influence wind tunnel operations. These groups include, for example, the various researchers and clients who use the facility, the Facility System Engineering Division (FSED) tasked with wind tunnel repair and upgrade, the Langley Research Center (LaRC) Fabrication (FAB) group which fabricates repair parts and provides test model upkeep, the NASA and LARC Strategic Plans, and unscheduled use of the facilities by important clients. Expanding these influences horizontally through nine wind tunnel operations and vertically along the NASA management structure greatly increases the

Wind Energy Resource Atlas. Volume 11. Hawaii and Pacific Islands Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schroeder, T.A.; Hori, A.M.; Elliott, D.L.; Barchet, W.R.; George, R.L.

1981-02-01

This atlas of the wind energy resource is composed of introductory and background information, and assessments of the wind resource in each division of the region. Background on how the wind resource is assessed and on how the results of the assessment should be inerpreted is presented. An introduction and outline to the descriptions of the wind resource for each division are provided. Assessments for individual divisions are presented as separate chapters. Much of the information in the division chapters is given in graphic or tabular form. The sequences for each chapter are similar, but some presentations used for Hawaii are inappropriate or impractical for presentation with the Pacific Islands. Hawaii chapter figure and tables are cited below and appropriate Pacific Islands figure and table numbers are included in brackets ().

Wind resource assessment using the WAsP software (DTU Wind Energy E-0135)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Niels Gylling

These course notes are intended for the three-week course 46200 Planning and Development of Wind Farms given each year at the Technical University of Denmark. The purpose of the course notes is to give an introduction to wind resource assessment and siting issues using the WAsP suite of programs....

Exploring the potential of wind energy for a coastal state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yue, C.-D.; Yang, M.-H.

2009-01-01

Adequate recognition of the wind energy potential of coastal states may have far-reaching effects on the development of the energy systems of these countries. This study evaluates wind energy resources in Taiwan with the aid of a geographic information system (GIS), which allows local potentials and restrictions such as climate conditions, land uses, and ecological environments to be considered. The findings unveiled in this study suggest a significant role for offshore wind energy resources, which may constitute between 94% and 98% of overall wind resources in Taiwan. Total power yield from wind energy could reach between 150 and 165 TWh, which would have, respectively, accounted for between 62% and 68% of Taiwan's total power generation of 243 TWh in 2007. Based on the Taiwan's current emission factor of electricity, wind energy has the potential to reduce CO 2 emissions by between 94 and 102 million ton per year in Taiwan, which is, respectively, equivalent to 28% and 31% of the national net equivalent CO 2 emissions released in 2002. However, the challenge of managing the variability of wind power has to be addressed before the considerable contribution of wind energy to domestic energy supply and CO 2 reduction can be realized.

Satellite based wind resource assessment over the South China Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Merete; Astrup, Poul; Hasager, Charlotte Bay

2014-01-01

variations are clearly visible across the domain; for instance sheltering effects caused by the land masses. The satellite based wind resource maps have two shortcomings. One is the lack of information at the higher vertical levels where wind turbines operate. The other is the limited number of overlapping...... years of WRF data – specifically the parameters heat flux, air temperature, and friction velocity – are used to calculate a long-term correction for atmospheric stability effects. The stability correction is applied to the satellite based wind resource maps together with a vertical wind profile...... from satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are particularly suitable for offshore wind energy applications because they offer a spatial resolution up to 500 m and include coastal seas. In this presentation, satellite wind maps are used in combination with mast observations and numerical...

Applicability of Synthetic Aperture Radar Wind Retrievals on Offshore Wind Resources Assessment in Hangzhou Bay, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui Chang

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In view of the high cost and sparse spatial resolution of offshore meteorological observations, ocean winds retrieved from satellites are valuable in offshore wind resource assessment as a supplement to in situ measurements. This study examines satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR images from ENVISAT advanced SAR (ASAR for mapping wind resources with high spatial resolution. Around 181 collected pairs of wind data from SAR wind maps and from 13 meteorological stations in Hangzhou Bay are compared. The statistical results comparing in situ wind speed and SAR-based wind speed show a standard deviation (SD of 1.99 m/s and correlation coefficient of R = 0.67. The model wind directions, which are used as input for the SAR wind speed retrieval, show a high correlation coefficient (R = 0.89 but a large standard deviation (SD = 42.3° compared to in situ observations. The Weibull probability density functions are compared at one meteorological station. The SAR-based results appear not to estimate the mean wind speed, Weibull scale and shape parameters and wind power density from the full in situ data set so well due to the lower number of satellite samples. Distributions calculated from the concurrent 81 SAR and in situ samples agree well.

Analysis of the solar/wind resources in Southern Spain for optimal sizing of hybrid solar-wind power generation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Quesada-Ruiz, S.; Pozo-Vazquez, D.; Santos-Alamillos, F. J.; Lara-Fanego, V.; Ruiz-Arias, J. A.; Tovar-Pescador, J.

2010-09-01

A drawback common to the solar and wind energy systems is their unpredictable nature and dependence on weather and climate on a wide range of time scales. In addition, the variation of the energy output may not match with the time distribution of the load demand. This can partially be solved by the use of batteries for energy storage in stand-alone systems. The problem caused by the variable nature of the solar and wind resources can be partially overcome by the use of energy systems that uses both renewable resources in a combined manner, that is, hybrid wind-solar systems. Since both resources can show complementary characteristics in certain location, the independent use of solar or wind systems results in considerable over sizing of the batteries system compared to the use of hybrid solar-wind systems. Nevertheless, to the day, there is no single recognized method for properly sizing these hybrid wind-solar systems. In this work, we present a method for sizing wind-solar hybrid systems in southern Spain. The method is based on the analysis of the wind and solar resources on daily scale, particularly, its temporal complementary characteristics. The method aims to minimize the size of the energy storage systems, trying to provide the most reliable supply.

Prediction of Wind Energy Resources (PoWER) Users Guide

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

ARL-TR-7573● JAN 2016 US Army Research Laboratory Prediction of Wind Energy Resources (PoWER) User’s Guide by David P Sauter...manufacturer’s or trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the use thereof. Destroy this report when it is no longer needed. Do...not return it to the originator. ARL-TR-7573 ● JAN 2016 US Army Research Laboratory Prediction of Wind Energy Resources (PoWER

M PPING SUIT BLE SITES FOR SETTING UP WIND F RMS: C SE ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

2015-04-14

Apr 14, 2015 ... Due to the negative impacts on the environment of traditional ... The study employed the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) ... in rural areas make the medium suitability areas. ... greenhouse gas emissions in the world. ... exploitation of its wind resources. ..... keep the site away from water in case of.

Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as an instrument of water resource management: a case study from a GIS-based Water Safety Plan in Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Wienand, I; Nolting, U; Kistemann, T

2009-01-01

Following international developments and the new WHO Drinking Water Guidelines (WHO 2004) a process-orientated concept for risk, monitoring and incident management has been developed and implemented in this study. The concept will be reviewed with special consideration for resource protection (first barrier of the multi-barrier system) and in turn, for the Water Safety Plan (WSP) which adequately considers-beyond the current framework of legal requirements-possible new hygienic-microbiologically relevant risks (especially emerging pathogens) for the drinking water supply. The development of a WSP within the framework of risk, monitoring and incident management includes the application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). In the present study, GIS was used for visualization and spatial analysis in decisive steps in the WSP. The detailed process of GIS-supported implementation included the identification of local participants and their tasks and interactions as an essential part of risk management. A detailed ecological investigation of drinking water conditions in the catchment area was conducted in addition to hazard identification, risk assessment and the monitoring of control measures. The main task of our study was to find out in which steps of the WSP the implementation of GIS could be integrated as a useful, and perhaps even an essential tool.

GIS-and Web-based Water Resource Geospatial Infrastructure for Oil Shale Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Wei [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Minnick, Matthew [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Geza, Mengistu [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Murray, Kyle [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Mattson, Earl [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

2012-09-30

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) was awarded a grant by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct a research project en- titled GIS- and Web-based Water Resource Geospatial Infrastructure for Oil Shale Development in October of 2008. The ultimate goal of this research project is to develop a water resource geo-spatial infrastructure that serves as “baseline data” for creating solutions on water resource management and for supporting decisions making on oil shale resource development. The project came to the end on September 30, 2012. This final project report will report the key findings from the project activity, major accomplishments, and expected impacts of the research. At meantime, the gamma version (also known as Version 4.0) of the geodatabase as well as other various deliverables stored on digital storage media will be send to the program manager at NETL, DOE via express mail. The key findings from the project activity include the quantitative spatial and temporal distribution of the water resource throughout the Piceance Basin, water consumption with respect to oil shale production, and data gaps identified. Major accomplishments of this project include the creation of a relational geodatabase, automated data processing scripts (Matlab) for database link with surface water and geological model, ArcGIS Model for hydrogeologic data processing for groundwater model input, a 3D geological model, surface water/groundwater models, energy resource development systems model, as well as a web-based geo-spatial infrastructure for data exploration, visualization and dissemination. This research will have broad impacts of the devel- opment of the oil shale resources in the US. The geodatabase provides a “baseline” data for fur- ther study of the oil shale development and identification of further data collection needs. The 3D geological model provides better understanding through data interpolation and

The value of co-locating energy storage with wind resources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fox, C. [Victoria Univ., BC (Canada). Inst. for Integrated Energy Systems

2010-07-01

This PowerPoint presentation discussed the value of wind energy storage systems. The systems can be used to downsize transmission requirements and to minimize reliability and forecast uncertainty. Revenue factors in relation to wind power energy storage are determined by the amount of wind power produced each hour with the wind farm capacity and hourly electricity price. Case studies of a wind farm in Ontario over a period of 20 years were used to determine capacity and revenue factors as well as gross revenues. The maximum revenue factor was determined by multiplying the greatest wind energy output by the highest electricity prices. A hybrid wind farm energy storage system was designed to determine energy storage discharges and charges to and from the grid at pool prices. The method allowed for time-shifts in wind generation resources and downsized transmission requirements for remote resources. The mixed integer linear program model co-optimized revenues from the wind farm and the energy storage facility. Combined output was constrained to the transmission capacity. Transmission losses were neglected, and capital costs were considered. Future studies are needed to determine levelized electricity costs under different load growth scenarios. tabs., figs.

Computer modelling of the UK wind energy resource: UK wind speed data package and user manual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burch, S F; Ravenscroft, F

1993-12-31

A software package has been developed for IBM-PC or true compatibles. It is designed to provide easy access to the results of a programme of work to estimate the UK wind energy resource. Mean wind speed maps and quantitative resource estimates were obtained using the NOABL mesoscale (1 km resolution) numerical model for the prediction of wind flow over complex terrain. NOABL was used in conjunction with digitised terrain data and wind data from surface meteorological stations for a ten year period (1975-1984) to provide digital UK maps of mean wind speed at 10m, 25m and 45m above ground level. Also included in the derivation of these maps was the use of the Engineering Science Data Unit (ESDU) method to model the effect on wind speed of the abrupt change in surface roughness that occurs at the coast. With the wind speed software package, the user is able to obtain a display of the modelled wind speed at 10m, 25m and 45m above ground level for any location in the UK. The required co-ordinates are simply supplied by the user, and the package displays the selected wind speed. This user manual summarises the methodology used in the generation of these UK maps and shows computer generated plots of the 25m wind speeds in 200 x 200 km regions covering the whole UK. The uncertainties inherent in the derivation of these maps are also described, and notes given on their practical usage. The present study indicated that 23% of the UK land area had speeds over 6 m/s, with many hill sites having 10m speeds over 10 m/s. It is concluded that these `first order` resource estimates represent a substantial improvement over the presently available `zero order` estimates. (18 figures, 3 tables, 6 references). (author)

Review of Methodologies for Offshore Wind Resource Assessment in European Seas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sempreviva, Anna Maria; Barthelmie, Rebecca Jane; Pryor, Sara

2008-01-01

promising wind farm sites and (ii) a site specific evaluation of wind climatology and vertical profiles of wind and atmospheric turbulence, in addition to an assessment of historical and possibly future changes due to climate non-stationarity. Phase (i) of the process can involve use of in situ observations......The wind resource offshore is generally larger than at geographically nearby onshore sites, which can offset the higher installation, operation and maintenance costs associated with offshore wind parks. Successful offshore wind energy development relies to some extent on accurate prediction of wind......) of the project often still requires in situ observations (which may or may not be supplemented with ground-based remote sensing technologies) and application of tools to provide a climatological context for the resulting measurements. Current methodologies for undertaking these aspects of the resource assessment...

A CASE STUDY OF CHINA ́S WIND POWER RESOURCES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xue Yanping

2013-11-01

Full Text Available At present, China is the largest energy producer and the second largest energy consumer in the world. With the increasing pressure to cut GHS emissions and to improve energy efficiency, China is now changing its traditional energy mix, mainly through consuming more renewable energy instead of fossil energy. This change has resulted in a policy adjustment which in turn boosts the utilization of the wind power resources. However, the development of the wind power resources in China is confronted with some significant challenges, such as greater installed electricity capacity than the electricity generation, greater electricity generation than the electricity transmission capacity and greater inland wind power generation than the offshore wind power generation. Therefore, the further development of China’s wind power electricity in the coming years depends largely on the ways these challenges will be addressed.

Wind resource assessment and siting analysis in Italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ricci, A.; Mizzoni, G.; Rossi, E.

1992-01-01

Recently, the wind power industry has matured; consequently, in many countries a lot of wind energy applications have been programmed. Many of them are already realized and running. As such, there is a direct necessity to identify a sizeable number of wind power plant sites. Choosing the right sites to match specific Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) is also needed to harness this clean energy from the points of view of industrial viability and project financing. As a pre-requisite to install a wind turbine at a particular site, it is necessary to have knowledge of the theoretical available wind energy at the site, as well as, of the practicability of the design in matching the characteristics of the WECS. In this paper, ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and Environment) wind siting and resource assessment activities, currently on-going in different regions in Italy, along with the present status and future prospects of the wind power industry

Wind resources at turbine height from Envisat and Sentinel-1 SAR

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Merete; Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Pena Diaz, Alfredo

for the standard output level of 10 m above the sea surface. This presentation demonstrates the effects of two recent improvements related to satellite-based wind resource mapping: 1) The number of satellite samples has increased dramatically since the launch of Sentinel-1A/B 2) A new method looks promising...... National Ice Center. Once the instantaneous wind maps are stored in our database, they can be organized as time series in order to calculate wind resources for any point location or area. Since the time series comprises data from both Envisat and Sentinel-1, a check of the data calibration against one....... To extrapolate the 10-m wind resource maps from SAR to higher levels within the atmospheric boundary layer, we estimate a wind profile for each grid cell in the maps. Simulations from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are used to correct this profile for long-term atmospheric stability effects...

Forecastability as a Design Criterion in Wind Resource Assessment: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, J.; Hodge, B. M.

2014-04-01

This paper proposes a methodology to include the wind power forecasting ability, or 'forecastability,' of a site as a design criterion in wind resource assessment and wind power plant design stages. The Unrestricted Wind Farm Layout Optimization (UWFLO) methodology is adopted to maximize the capacity factor of a wind power plant. The 1-hour-ahead persistence wind power forecasting method is used to characterize the forecastability of a potential wind power plant, thereby partially quantifying the integration cost. A trade-off between the maximum capacity factor and the forecastability is investigated.

A Web GIS Enabled Comprehensive Hydrologic Information System for Indian Water Resources Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Goyal, A.; Tyagi, H.; Gosain, A. K.; Khosa, R.

2017-12-01

Hydrological systems across the globe are getting increasingly water stressed with each passing season due to climate variability & snowballing water demand. Hence, to safeguard food, livelihood & economic security, it becomes imperative to employ scientific studies for holistic management of indispensable resource like water. However, hydrological study of any scale & purpose is heavily reliant on various spatio-temporal datasets which are not only difficult to discover/access but are also tough to use & manage. Besides, owing to diversity of water sector agencies & dearth of standard operating procedures, seamless information exchange is challenging for collaborators. Extensive research is being done worldwide to address these issues but regrettably not much has been done in developing countries like India. Therefore, the current study endeavours to develop a Hydrological Information System framework in a Web-GIS environment for empowering Indian water resources systems. The study attempts to harmonize the standards for metadata, terminology, symbology, versioning & archiving for effective generation, processing, dissemination & mining of data required for hydrological studies. Furthermore, modelers with humble computing resources at their disposal, can consume this standardized data in high performance simulation modelling using cloud computing within the developed Web-GIS framework. They can also integrate the inputs-outputs of different numerical models available on the platform and integrate their results for comprehensive analysis of the chosen hydrological system. Thus, the developed portal is an all-in-one framework that can facilitate decision makers, industry professionals & researchers in efficient water management.

Potential for Development of Solar and Wind Resource in Bhutan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilman, P.; Cowlin, S.; Heimiller, D.

2009-09-01

With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) produced maps and data of the wind and solar resources in Bhutan. The solar resource data show that Bhutan has an adequate resource for flat-plate collectors, with annual average values of global horizontal solar radiation ranging from 4.0 to 5.5 kWh/m2-day (4.0 to 5.5 peak sun hours per day). The information provided in this report may be of use to energy planners in Bhutan involved in developing energy policy or planning wind and solar projects, and to energy analysts around the world interested in gaining an understanding of Bhutan's wind and solar energy potential.

Development of distributed topographical forecasting model for wind resource assessment using artificial neural networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Narayana, P.B. [Green Life Energy Solutions LLP, Secunderabad (India); Rao, S.S. [National Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Warangal (India); Reddy, K.H. [JNT Univ.. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Anantapur (India)

2012-07-01

Economics of wind power projects largely depend on the availability of wind power density. Wind resource assessment is a study estimating wind speeds and wind power densities in the region under consideration. The accuracy and reliability of data sets comprising of wind speeds and wind power densities at different heights per topographic region characterized by elevation or mean sea level, is important for wind power projects. Indian Wind Resource Assessment program conducted in 80's consisted of wind data measured by monitoring stations at different topographies in order to measure wind power density values at 25 and 50 meters above the ground level. In this paper, an attempt has been made to assess wind resource at a given location using artificial neural networks. Existing wind resource data has been used to train the neural networks. Location topography (characterized by longitude, latitude and mean sea level), air density, mean annual wind speed (MAWS) are used as inputs to the neural network. Mean annual wind power density (MAWPD) in watt/m{sup 2} is predicted for a new topographic location. Simple back propagation based neural network has been found to be sufficient for predicting these values with suitable accuracy. This model is closely linked to the problem of wind energy forecasting considering the variations of specific atmospheric variables with time horizons. This model will help the wind farm developers to have an initial estimation of the wind energy potential at a particular topography. (Author)

A detailed and verified wind resource atlas for Denmark

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mortensen, N G; Landberg, L; Rathmann, O; Nielsen, M N [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark); Nielsen, P [Energy and Environmental Data, Aalberg (Denmark)

1999-03-01

A detailed and reliable wind resource atlas covering the entire land area of Denmark has been established. Key words of the methodology are wind atlas analysis, interpolation of wind atlas data sets, automated generation of digital terrain descriptions and modelling of local wind climates. The atlas contains wind speed and direction distributions, as well as mean energy densities of the wind, for 12 sectors and four heights above ground level: 25, 45, 70 and 100 m. The spatial resolution is 200 meters in the horizontal. The atlas has been verified by comparison with actual wind turbine power productions from over 1200 turbines. More than 80% of these turbines were predicted to within 10%. The atlas will become available on CD-ROM and on the Internet. (au)

Hydrological Modeling and WEB-GIS for the Water Resource Management

Science.gov (United States)

Pierleoni, A.; Bellezza, M.; Casadei, S.; Manciola, P.

2006-12-01

Water resources are a strategically natural resource although they can be extremely susceptible to degradation. As a matter of fact the increasing demand from multipurpose uses, which often are in competition amongst themselves, seems to affect the concept of sustainability per se', thus highlighting phenomena of quality-quantity degradation of water resources. In this context, the issue of water resource management rises to a more important role, especially when, other then the traditional uses for civil, industrial and agronomic purposes, environmental demands are taken into consideration. In particular, for environmental demands we mean: to preserve minimal flows, to conserve ecosystems and biodiversities, to protect and improve the environment and finally also the recreational facilities. In the present work, two software tools are presented; they combine the scientific aspect of the issues with a feasible and widely accessible application of the mathematical modeling in techno-operative fields within a sustainable management policy of the water resource at the basin scale. The first evaluation model of the available superficial water resource bases its algorithms upon regionalization procedures of flow parameters deduced from the geomorphologic features of the soil of the basin (BFI, Area) and presents, as output, a set of duration curves (DC) of the natural, measurable (natural after withdrawal), and residual (discharge usable for dissipative use) flow. The hydrological modeling combined with a GIS engine allows to process the dataset and regionalize the information of each section of the hydrographic network, in order to attain information about the effect of upriver withdrawals, in terms of evaluation parameters (measurable DC) to maintain an optimal water supply all along the entire downstream network. This model, projected with a WEB interface developed in PERL and connected to a MySQL database, has also been tested at the basin and sub-basin scale as an

The generation game: using GIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahony, C.D.

1995-01-01

The siting of wind farms is a controversial business: strong emotions often clash with practical considerations. In conjunction with GIS, a new set of criteria, developed using the Isle of Man as a model, offers the potential for a more objective approach. (Author)

Wind power in Eritrea, Africa: A preliminary resource assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garbesi, K.; Rosen, K. [San Jose State Univ., CA (United States); Van Buskirk, R. [Dept. of Energy, Eritrea (Ethiopia)

1997-12-31

The authors preliminary assessment of Eritrean wind energy potential identified two promising regions: (1) the southeastern Red Sea coast and (2) the mountain passes that channel winds between the coastal lowlands and the interior highlands. The coastal site, near the port city of Aseb, has an exceptionally good resource, with estimated average annual wind speeds at 10-m height above 9 m/s at the airport and 7 m/s in the port. Furthermore, the southern 200 km of coastline has offshore WS{sub aa} > 6 m/s. This area has strong potential for development, having a local 20 MW grid and unmet demand for the fishing industry and development. Although the highland sites contain only marginal wind resources ({approximately} 5 m/s), they warrant further investigation because of their proximity to the capital city, Asmera, which has the largest unmet demand and a larger power grid (40 MW with an additional 80 MW planned) to absorb an intermittent source without storage.

Development of Regional Wind Resource and Wind Plant Output Datasets for the Hawaiian Islands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Manobianco, J.; Alonge, C.; Frank, J.; Brower, M.

2010-07-01

In March 2009, AWS Truepower was engaged by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop a set of wind resource and plant output data for the Hawaiian Islands. The objective of this project was to expand the methods and techniques employed in the Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EWITS) to include the state of Hawaii.

A comprehensive measure of the energy resource: Wind power potential (WPP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jie; Chowdhury, Souma; Messac, Achille

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A more comprehensive metric is developed to accurately assess the quality of wind resources at a site. • WPP exploits the joint distribution of wind speed and direction, and yields more credible estimates. • WPP investigates the effect of wind distribution on the optimal net power generation of a farm. • The results show that WPD and WPP follow different trends. - Abstract: Currently, the quality of available wind energy at a site is assessed using wind power density (WPD). This paper proposes to use a more comprehensive metric: the wind power potential (WPP). While the former accounts for only wind speed information, the latter exploits the joint distribution of wind speed and wind direction and yields more credible estimates. The WPP investigates the effect of wind velocity distribution on the optimal net power generation of a farm. A joint distribution of wind speed and direction is used to characterize the stochastic variation of wind conditions. Two joint distribution methods are adopted in this paper: bivariate normal distribution and anisotropic lognormal method. The net power generation for a particular farmland size and installed capacity is maximized for different distributions of wind speed and wind direction, using the Unrestricted Wind Farm Layout Optimization (UWFLO) framework. A response surface is constructed to represent the computed maximum wind farm capacity factor as a function of the parameters of the wind distribution. Two different response surface methods are adopted in this paper: (i) the adaptive hybrid functions (AHF), and (ii) the quadratic response surface method (QRSM). Toward this end, for any farm site, we can (i) estimate the parameters of the joint distribution using recorded wind data (for bivariate normal or anisotropic lognormal distributions) and (ii) predict the maximum capacity factor for a specified farm size and capacity using this response surface. The WPP metric is illustrated using recorded wind

Land Use and Natural Resources Planning for Sustainable Ecotourism Using GIS in Surat Thani, Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuji Murayama

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the land use and natural resources for future sustainable ecotourism site planning using GIS as a tool. The study is based on 2007 land use land cover data and ecotourism suitability data which are then integrated with other GIS datasets to evaluate the land use and natural resources at a district level in Surat Thani province. The final step of this study was the prioritization of the area that is best suited for ecotourism in assessing ecotourism sustainability in Surat Thani province. The result is useful for tourism facilities development and ecotourism resource utilization where ecotourism could be more developed. Additionally, the results can be used for managers and planners working in local and central governments and other non-governmental organizations. These integrated approaches cover complex and universal issues such as sustainable development of ecotourism, biodiversity conservation and protected area management in a tropical and developing country such as Thailand. Moreover, it is believed that this study can be used as a basis for evaluating the suitability of other areas for ecotourism. In addition, it may also serve as a starting point for more complex studies in the future.

Solar resources and power potential mapping in Vietnam using satellite-derived and GIS-based information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Polo, J.; Bernardos, A.; Navarro, A.A.; Fernandez-Peruchena, C.M.; Ramírez, L.; Guisado, María V.; Martínez, S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Satellite-based, reanalysis data and measurements are combined for solar mapping. • Plant output modeling for PV and CSP results in simple expressions of solar potential. • Solar resource, solar potential are used in a GIS for determine technical solar potential. • Solar resource and potential maps of Vietnam are presented. - Abstract: The present paper presents maps of the solar resources in Vietnam and of the solar potential for concentrating solar power (CSP) and for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) technology. The mapping of solar radiation components has been calculated from satellite-derived data combined with solar radiation derived from sunshine duration and other additional sources of information based on reanalysis for several atmospheric and meteorological parameters involved. Two scenarios have been selected for the study of the solar potential: CSP Parabolic Trough of 50 MWe and grid-connected Flat Plate PV plant of around 1 MWe. For each selected scenario plant performance simulations have been computed for developing simple expressions that allow the estimation of the solar potential from the annual solar irradiation and the latitude of every site in Vietnam. Finally, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been used for combining the solar potential with the land availability according each scenario to deliver the technical solar potential maps of Vietnam

Wind Resource Assessment in Abadan Airport in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mojtaba Nedaei

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Renewable energies have potential for supplying of relatively clean and mostly local energy. Wind energy generation is expected to increase in the near future and has experienced dramatic growth over the past decade in many countries. Wind speed is the most important parameter in the design and study of wind energy conversion systems. Probability density functions such as Weibull and Rayleigh are often used in wind speed and wind energy analyses. This paper presents an assessment of wind energy at three heights during near two years based on Weibull distribution function in Abadan Airport. Extrapolation of the 10 m and 40 m data, using the power law, has been used to determine the wind speed at height of 80 m. According to the results wind speed at 80 m height in Abadan is ranged from 5.8 m/s in Nov to 8.5 m/s in Jun with average value of 7.15 m/s. In this study, different parameters such as Weibull parameters, diurnal and monthly wind speeds, cumulative distribution and turbulence intensity have been estimated and analyzed. In addition Energy production of different wind turbines at different heights was estimated. The results show that the studied site has good potential for Installation of large and commercial wind turbines at height of 80 m or higher. Keywords: Abadan, Iran, wind energy, wind resource, wind turbine, Weibull

Satellite SAR wind resource mapping in China (SAR-China)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Merete

The project ‘Off-Shore Wind Energy Resource Assessment and Feasibility Study of Off-Shore Wind Farm Development in China’ is funded by the EU-China Energy and Environment Programme (EEP) and runs for one year (August 2008 - August 2009). The project is lead by the China Meteorological Administrat...

Session: What can we learn from developed wind resource areas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thelander, Carl; Erickson, Wally

2004-09-01

This session at the Wind Energy and Birds/Bats workshop was composed of two parts intended to examine what existing science tells us about wind turbine impacts at existing wind project sites. Part one dealt with the Altamont Wind Resource area, one of the older wind projects in the US, with a paper presented by Carl Thelander titled ''Bird Fatalities in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area: A Case Study, Part 1''. Questions addressed by the presenter included: how is avian habitat affected at Altamont and do birds avoid turbine sites; are birds being attracted to turbine strings; what factors contribute to direct impacts on birds by wind turbines at Altamont; how do use, behavior, avoidance and other factors affect risk to avian species, and particularly impacts those species listed as threatened, endangered, or of conservation concern, and other state listed species. The second part dealt with direct impacts to birds at new generation wind plants outside of California, examining such is sues as mortality, avoidance, direct habitat impacts from terrestrial wind projects, species and numbers killed per turbine rates/MW generated, impacts to listed threatened and endangered species, to USFWS Birds of Conservation Concern, and to state listed species. This session focused on newer wind project sites with a paper titled ''Bird Fatality and Risk at New Generation Wind Projects'' by Wally Erickson. Each paper was followed by a discussion/question and answer period.

Wind speed forecasting in the central California wind resource area

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCarthy, E.F. [Wind Economics & Technology, Inc., Martinez, CA (United States)

1997-12-31

A wind speed forecasting program was implemented in the summer seasons of 1985 - 87 in the Central California Wind Resource Area (WRA). The forecasting program is designed to use either meteorological observations from the WRA and local upper air observations or upper air observations alone to predict the daily average windspeed at two locations. Forecasts are made each morning at 6 AM and are valid for a 24 hour period. Ease of use is a hallmark of the program as the daily forecast can be made using data entered into a programmable HP calculator. The forecasting program was the first step in a process to examine whether the electrical energy output of an entire wind power generation facility or defined subsections of the same facility could be predicted up to 24 hours in advance. Analysis of the results of the summer season program using standard forecast verification techniques show the program has skill over persistence and climatology.

Wind energy prospecting: socio-economic value of a new wind resource assessment technique based on a NASA Earth science dataset

Science.gov (United States)

Vanvyve, E.; Magontier, P.; Vandenberghe, F. C.; Delle Monache, L.; Dickinson, K.

2012-12-01

Wind energy is amongst the fastest growing sources of renewable energy in the U.S. and could supply up to 20 % of the U.S power production by 2030. An accurate and reliable wind resource assessment for prospective wind farm sites is a challenging task, yet is crucial for evaluating the long-term profitability and feasibility of a potential development. We have developed an accurate and computationally efficient wind resource assessment technique for prospective wind farm sites, which incorporates innovative statistical techniques and the new NASA Earth science dataset MERRA. This technique produces a wind resource estimate that is more accurate than that obtained by the wind energy industry's standard technique, while providing a reliable quantification of its uncertainty. The focus now is on evaluating the socio-economic value of this new technique upon using the industry's standard technique. Would it yield lower financing costs? Could it result in lower electricity prices? Are there further down-the-line positive consequences, e.g. job creation, time saved, greenhouse gas decrease? Ultimately, we expect our results will inform efforts to refine and disseminate the new technique to support the development of the U.S. renewable energy infrastructure. In order to address the above questions, we are carrying out a cost-benefit analysis based on the net present worth of the technique. We will describe this approach, including the cash-flow process of wind farm financing, how the wind resource assessment factors in, and will present current results for various hypothetical candidate wind farm sites.

46200 Planning and Development of Wind Farms: Wind resource assessment using the WAsP software

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Niels Gylling

These course notes are intended for the three-week course 46200 Planning and Development of Wind Farms given each year at the Technical University of Denmark. The purpose of the course notes is to give an introduction to wind resource assessment and siting issues using the WAsP suite of programs....

Computer modelling of the UK wind energy resource: final overview report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burch, S F; Ravenscroft, F

1993-12-31

This report describes the results of a programme of work to estimate the UK wind energy resource. Mean wind speed maps and quantitative resource estimates were obtained using the NOABL mesoscale (1 km resolution) numerical model for the prediction of wind flow over complex terrain. NOABL was used in conjunction with digitised terrain data and wind data from surface meteorological stations for a ten year period (1975-1984) to provide digital UK maps of mean wind speed at 10m, 25m and 45m above ground level. Also included in the derivation of these maps was the use of the Engineering Science Data Unit (ESDU) method to model the effect on wind speed of the abrupt change in surface roughness that occurs at the coast. Existing isovent maps, based on standard meteorological data which take no account of terrain effects, indicate that 10m annual mean wind speeds vary between about 4.5 and 7 m/s over the UK with only a few coastal areas over 6 m/s. The present study indicated that 23% of the UK land area had speeds over 6 m/s, with many hill sites having 10m speeds over 10 m/s. It is concluded that these `first order` resource estimates represent a substantial improvement over the presently available `zero order` estimates. (20 figures, 7 tables, 10 references). (author)

Wind Resource and Feasibility Assessment Report for the Lummi Reservation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DNV Renewables (USA) Inc.; J.C. Brennan & Associates, Inc.; Hamer Environmental L.P.

2012-08-31

This report summarizes the wind resource on the Lummi Indian Reservation (Washington State) and presents the methodology, assumptions, and final results of the wind energy development feasibility assessment, which included an assessment of biological impacts and noise impacts.

Multidimensional optimal droop control for wind resources in DC microgrids

Science.gov (United States)

Bunker, Kaitlyn J.

Two important and upcoming technologies, microgrids and electricity generation from wind resources, are increasingly being combined. Various control strategies can be implemented, and droop control provides a simple option without requiring communication between microgrid components. Eliminating the single source of potential failure around the communication system is especially important in remote, islanded microgrids, which are considered in this work. However, traditional droop control does not allow the microgrid to utilize much of the power available from the wind. This dissertation presents a novel droop control strategy, which implements a droop surface in higher dimension than the traditional strategy. The droop control relationship then depends on two variables: the dc microgrid bus voltage, and the wind speed at the current time. An approach for optimizing this droop control surface in order to meet a given objective, for example utilizing all of the power available from a wind resource, is proposed and demonstrated. Various cases are used to test the proposed optimal high dimension droop control method, and demonstrate its function. First, the use of linear multidimensional droop control without optimization is demonstrated through simulation. Next, an optimal high dimension droop control surface is implemented with a simple dc microgrid containing two sources and one load. Various cases for changing load and wind speed are investigated using simulation and hardware-in-the-loop techniques. Optimal multidimensional droop control is demonstrated with a wind resource in a full dc microgrid example, containing an energy storage device as well as multiple sources and loads. Finally, the optimal high dimension droop control method is applied with a solar resource, and using a load model developed for a military patrol base application. The operation of the proposed control is again investigated using simulation and hardware-in-the-loop techniques.

Wind as a utility-grade supply resource: A planning framework for the Pacific Northwest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, M.S.; Litchfield, J.

1993-12-01

Many areas throughout the United States possess favorable wind resources that, as yet, remain undeveloped. This paper provides valuable information on the type of information developers can provide, utility interpretation of the information in regard to electric energy and capacity attributes, and wind resource characteristics of interest to utilities. The paper also reviews key utility planning contexts within which prospective wind resources may be evaluated

Wind Energy Resource Assessment on Alaska Native Lands in Cordova Region of Prince William Sound

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Whissel, John C. [Native Village of Eyak, Cordova, AK (United States); Piche, Matthew [Native Village of Eyak, Cordova, AK (United States)

2015-06-29

The Native Village of Eyak (NVE) has been monitoring wind resources around Cordova, Alaska in order to determine whether there is a role for wind energy to play in the city’s energy scheme, which is now supplies entirely by two run-of-the-river hydro plants and diesel generators. These data are reported in Appendices A and B. Because the hydro resources decline during winter months, and wind resources increase, wind is perhaps an ideal counterpart to round out Cordova’s renewable energy supply. The results of this effort suggests that this is the case, and that developing wind resources makes sense for our small, isolated community.

Format conversion between CAD data and GIS data based on ArcGIS

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Qingqing; Wei, Bo; Zhang, Kailin; Wang, Zhichao

2015-12-01

To make full use of the data resources and realize a sharing for the different types of data in different industries, a method of format conversion between CAD data and GIS data based on ArcGIS was proposed. To keep the integrity of the converted data, some key steps to process CAD data before conversion were made in AutoCAD. For examples, deleting unnecessary elements such as title, border and legend avoided the appearance of unnecessary elements after conversion, as layering data again by a national standard avoided the different types of elements to appear in a same layer after conversion. In ArcGIS, converting CAD data to GIS data was executed by the correspondence of graphic element classification between AutoCAD and ArcGIS. In addition, an empty geographic database and feature set was required to create in ArcGIS for storing the text data of CAD data. The experimental results show that the proposed method avoids a large amount of editing work in data conversion and maintains the integrity of spatial data and attribute data between before and after conversion.

Wind Resource Variations Over Selected Sites in the West African Sub-Region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iheonu, E. E.; Akingbade, F.O A.; Ocholi, M.

2002-01-01

The analysis of wind characteristics and wind resource potentials at 4 locations in the West African sub-region is presented, applying data obtained at the Ibadan central station of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-Ibadan, Nigeria). The study has shown that the annual variations of wind speed have coefficient of variability between 10 and 15% but the available wind power at the studied locations is generally poor with values ranging between 2 and 10 Wm2 at the standard meteorological height of 10 m. Cotonou (Lat. 6.4 0 N, Long. 2.3 0 E) Benin Republic has however been distinguished from the other three locations in Nigeria, as the most promising site for wind resource development and utilization in the sub-region. With appropriate choice of wind turbine characteristics and design efficiency, establishing wind farms at the Cotonou location for electrical energy production could be feasible

Avian use of Norris Hill Wind Resource Area, Montana

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harmata, A.; Podruzny, K.; Zelenak, J. [Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT (United States). Biology Dept.

1998-07-01

This document presents results of a study of avian use and mortality in and near a proposed wind resource area in southwestern Montana. Data collected in autumn 1995 through summer 1996 represented preconstruction condition; it was compiled, analyzed, and presented in a format such that comparison with post-construction data would be possible. The primary emphasis of the study was recording avian migration in and near the wind resource area using state-of-the-art marine surveillance radar. Avian use and mortality were investigated during the breeding season by employing traditional avian sampling methods, radiotelemetry, radar, and direct visual observation. 61 figs., 34 tabs.

Global assessment of onshore wind power resources considering the distance to urban areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva Herran, Diego; Dai, Hancheng; Fujimori, Shinichiro; Masui, Toshihiko

2016-01-01

This study assessed global onshore wind power resources considering the distance to urban areas in terms of transmission losses and costs, and visibility (landscape impact) restrictions. Including this factor decreased the economic potential considerably depending on the level of supply cost considered (at least 37% and 16% for an economic potential below 10 and 14 US cents/kWh, respectively). Its importance compared to other factors was secondary below 15 US cents/kWh. At higher costs it was secondary only to land use, and was more important than economic and technical factors. The impact of this factor was mixed across all regions of the world, given the heterogeneity of wind resources in remote and proximal areas. Regions where available resources decreased the most included the European Union, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The supply cost chosen to evaluate the economic potential and uncertainties influencing the estimation of distance to the closest urban area are critical for the assessment. Neglecting the restrictions associated with integration into energy systems and social acceptability resulted in an overestimation of global onshore wind resources. These outcomes are fundamental for global climate policies because they help to clarify the limits of wind energy resource availability. - Highlights: • Global onshore wind resources were assessed including the distance to urban areas. • We evaluate the impact of transmission losses and cost, and visibility restrictions. • The distance to urban areas' impact was considerable, depending on the supply cost. • This factor's importance was secondary to economic, land use, and technical factors. • Neglecting this factor resulted in an overestimation of global wind resources.

WebGIS based on semantic grid model and web services

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, WangFei; Yue, CaiRong; Gao, JianGuo

2009-10-01

As the combination point of the network technology and GIS technology, WebGIS has got the fast development in recent years. With the restriction of Web and the characteristics of GIS, traditional WebGIS has some prominent problems existing in development. For example, it can't accomplish the interoperability of heterogeneous spatial databases; it can't accomplish the data access of cross-platform. With the appearance of Web Service and Grid technology, there appeared great change in field of WebGIS. Web Service provided an interface which can give information of different site the ability of data sharing and inter communication. The goal of Grid technology was to make the internet to a large and super computer, with this computer we can efficiently implement the overall sharing of computing resources, storage resource, data resource, information resource, knowledge resources and experts resources. But to WebGIS, we only implement the physically connection of data and information and these is far from the enough. Because of the different understanding of the world, following different professional regulations, different policies and different habits, the experts in different field will get different end when they observed the same geographic phenomenon and the semantic heterogeneity produced. Since these there are large differences to the same concept in different field. If we use the WebGIS without considering of the semantic heterogeneity, we will answer the questions users proposed wrongly or we can't answer the questions users proposed. To solve this problem, this paper put forward and experienced an effective method of combing semantic grid and Web Services technology to develop WebGIS. In this paper, we studied the method to construct ontology and the method to combine Grid technology and Web Services and with the detailed analysis of computing characteristics and application model in the distribution of data, we designed the WebGIS query system driven by

Offshore Wind Resources Assessment from Multiple Satellite Data and WRF Modeling over South China Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui Chang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Using accurate inputs of wind speed is crucial in wind resource assessment, as predicted power is proportional to the wind speed cubed. This study outlines a methodology for combining multiple ocean satellite winds and winds from WRF simulations in order to acquire the accurate reconstructed offshore winds which can be used for offshore wind resource assessment. First, wind speeds retrieved from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR and Scatterometer ASCAT images were validated against in situ measurements from seven coastal meteorological stations in South China Sea (SCS. The wind roses from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS and ASCAT agree well with these observations from the corresponding in situ measurements. The statistical results comparing in situ wind speed and SAR-based (ASCAT-based wind speed for the whole co-located samples show a standard deviation (SD of 2.09 m/s (1.83 m/s and correlation coefficient of R 0.75 (0.80. When the offshore winds (i.e., winds directed from land to sea are excluded, the comparison results for wind speeds show an improvement of SD and R, indicating that the satellite data are more credible over the open ocean. Meanwhile, the validation of satellite winds against the same co-located mast observations shows a satisfactory level of accuracy which was similar for SAR and ASCAT winds. These satellite winds are then assimilated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF Model by WRF Data Assimilation (WRFDA system. Finally, the wind resource statistics at 100 m height based on the reconstructed winds have been achieved over the study area, which fully combines the offshore wind information from multiple satellite data and numerical model. The findings presented here may be useful in future wind resource assessment based on satellite data.

Open source GIS based tools to improve hydrochemical water resources management in EU H2020 FREEWAT platform

Science.gov (United States)

Criollo, Rotman; Velasco, Violeta; Vázquez-Suñé, Enric; Nardi, Albert; Marazuela, Miguel A.; Rossetto, Rudy; Borsi, Iacopo; Foglia, Laura; Cannata, Massimiliano; De Filippis, Giovanna

2017-04-01

Due to the general increase of water scarcity (Steduto et al., 2012), water quantity and quality must be well known to ensure a proper access to water resources in compliance with local and regional directives. This circumstance can be supported by tools which facilitate process of data management and its analysis. Such analyses have to provide research/professionals, policy makers and users with the ability to improve the management of the water resources with standard regulatory guidelines. Compliance with the established standard regulatory guidelines (with a special focus on requirement deriving from the GWD) should have an effective monitoring, evaluation, and interpretation of a large number of physical and chemical parameters. These amounts of datasets have to be assessed and interpreted: (i) integrating data from different sources and gathered with different data access techniques and formats; (ii) managing data with varying temporal and spatial extent; (iii) integrating groundwater quality information with other relevant information such as further hydrogeological data (Velasco et al., 2014) and pre-processing these data generally for the realization of groundwater models. In this context, the Hydrochemical Analysis Tools, akvaGIS Tools, has been implemented within the H2020 FREEWAT project; which aims to manage water resources by modelling water resource management in an open source GIS platform (QGIS desktop). The main goal of AkvaGIS Tools is to improve water quality analysis through different capabilities to improve the case study conceptual model managing all data related into its geospatial database (implemented in Spatialite) and a set of tools for improving the harmonization, integration, standardization, visualization and interpretation of the hydrochemical data. To achieve that, different commands cover a wide range of methodologies for querying, interpreting, and comparing groundwater quality data and facilitate the pre-processing analysis for

76 FR 36532 - Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-22

... Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North America LLC, Horizon Wind...), Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North America LLC, and Horizon Wind Energy LLC (Complainants) filed a formal complaint against Bonneville Power Administration...

Alpine Windharvest: development of information base regarding potentials and the necessary technical, legal and socio-economic conditions for expanding wind energy in the Alpine Space - GIS analysis methodology - Workbook and results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daellenbach, F.; Schaffner, B. [Meteotest, Berne (Switzerland)

2005-07-01

This report presents the development work carried out by the Swiss meteorology specialists of the company METEOTEST as part of a project carried out together with the Swiss wind-energy organisation 'Suisse Eole'. The framework for the project is the EU Interreg IIIB Alpine Space Programme, a European Community Initiative Programme funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The project investigated the use of digital relief-analysis. The report describes the development of basic information system to aid the investigation of the technical, legal and socio-economical conditions for the use of wind energy in the alpine area. The report deals with the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) methodology, which includes three steps: the identification of limiting factors for wind power production, the compilation of a GIS layer for each of these factors and, thirdly, their aggregation into a result layer. The methodology was implemented for four case studies in Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland.

A Review on Applications of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS in Water Resources and Flood Risk Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianwei Wang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Water is one of the most critical natural resources that maintain the ecosystem and support people’s daily life. Pressures on water resources and disaster management are rising primarily due to the unequal spatial and temporal distribution of water resources and pollution, and also partially due to our poor knowledge about the distribution of water resources and poor management of their usage. Remote sensing provides critical data for mapping water resources, measuring hydrological fluxes, monitoring drought and flooding inundation, while geographic information systems (GIS provide the best tools for water resources, drought and flood risk management. This special issue presents the best practices, cutting-edge technologies and applications of remote sensing, GIS and hydrological models for water resource mapping, satellite rainfall measurements, runoff simulation, water body and flood inundation mapping, and risk management. The latest technologies applied include 3D surface model analysis and visualization of glaciers, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV video image classification for turfgrass mapping and irrigation planning, ground penetration radar for soil moisture estimation, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM and the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM satellite rainfall measurements, storm hyetography analysis, rainfall runoff and urban flooding simulation, and satellite radar and optical image classification for urban water bodies and flooding inundation. The application of those technologies is expected to greatly relieve the pressures on water resources and allow better mitigation of and adaptation to the disastrous impact of droughts and flooding.

Towards a Public Sector GIS Evaluation Methodology | Kurwakumire ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Towards a Public Sector GIS Evaluation Methodology. ... AFRICAN JOURNALS ONLINE (AJOL) · Journals · Advanced Search · USING AJOL · RESOURCES ... However, evaluation methodologies for public sector GIS are largely lacking.

Offshore Wind Resource, Cost, and Economic Potential in the State of Maine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Musial, Walter D. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2018-02-12

This report provides information for decision-makers about floating offshore wind technologies in the state of Maine. It summarizes research efforts performed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory between 2015 and 2017 to analyze the resource potential, cost of offshore wind, and economic potential of offshore wind from four primary reports: Musial et al. (2016); Beiter et al. (2016, 2017); and Mone et al. (unpublished). From Musial et al. (2016), Maine's technical offshore wind resource potential ranked seventh in the nation overall with more than 411 terawatt-hours/year of offshore resource generating potential. Although 90% of this wind resource is greater than 9.0-meters-per-second average velocity, most of the resource is over deep water, where floating wind technology is needed. Levelized cost of energy and levelized avoided cost of energy were computed to estimate the unsubsidized 'economic potential' for Maine in the year 2027 (Beiter et al. 2016, 2017). The studies found that Maine may have 65 gigawatts of economic potential by 2027, the highest of any U.S. state. Bottom-line costs for the Aqua Ventus project, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Demonstration project, were released from a proprietary report written by NREL in 2016 for the University of Maine (Mone et al. unpublished). The report findings were that economies of scale and new technology advancements lowered the cost from $300/megawatt-hour (MWh) for the two-turbine 12-megawatt (MW) Aqua Ventus 1 project, to $126/MWh for the commercial-scale, 498-MW Aqua Ventus-2 project. Further cost reductions to $77/MWh were found when new technology advancements were applied for the 1,000-MW Aqua Ventus-3 project in 2030. No new analysis was conducted for this report.

Atlas de Recursos Eólicos del Estado de Oaxaca (The Spanish version of Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Oaxaca)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

2004-04-01

The Oaxaca Wind Resource Atlas, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group, is the result of an extensive mapping study for the Mexican State of Oaxaca. This atlas identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Oaxaca. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

Analysis of the potential for hydrogen production in the province of Cordoba, Argentina, from wind resources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodriguez, C.R.; Santa Cruz, R.; Aisa, S. [Universidad Empresarial Siglo 21, Monsenor Pablo Cabrera s/n calle, 5000 Cordoba (Argentina); Riso, M.; Jimenez Yob, G.; Ottogalli, R. [Subsecretaria de Infraestructuras y Programas, Ministerio de Obras y Servicios Publicos del Gobierno de la Provincia de Cordoba, Av. Poeta Lugones 12, 2do. Piso, 5000 Cordoba (Argentina); Jeandrevin, G. [Instituto Universitario Aeronautico, Avenida Fuerza Aerea km 6 1/2, 5022 Cordoba (Argentina); Leiva, E.P.M. [INFIQC, Unidad de Matematica y Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Haya de la Torre s/n, 5010 Cordoba (Argentina)

2010-06-15

The potential for hydrogen production from wind resources in the province of Cordoba, second consumer of fossil fuels for transportation in Argentina, is analyzed. Three aspects of the problem are considered: the evaluation of the hydrogen resource from wind power, the analysis of the production costs via electrolysis and the annual requirements of wind energy to generate hydrogen to fuel the vehicular transport of the province. Different scenarios were considered, including pure hydrogen as well as the so-called CNG plus, where hydrogen is mixed with compressed natural gas in a 20% V/V dilution of the former. The potential for hydrogen production from wind resources is analyzed for each department of the province, excluding those regions not suited for wind farms. The analysis takes into account the efficiency of the electrolyzer and the capacity factor of the wind power system. It is concluded that the automotive transportation could be supplied by hydrogen stemming from wind resources via electrolysis. (author)

A methodology for the prediction of offshore wind energy resources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Watson, S J; Watson, G M [Rutherford Appleton Lab., Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Holt, R.J. [Univ. of East Anglia, Climatic Research Unit, Norwich (United Kingdom)] Barthelmie, R.J. [Risoe National Lab., Dept. of Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics, Roskilde (Denmark); Zuylen, E.J. van [Ecofys Energy and Environment, Utrecht (Netherlands)] Cleijne, J.W. [Kema Sustainable, Arnhem (Netherlands)

1999-03-01

There are increasing constraints on the development of wind power on land. Recently, there has been a move to develop wind power offshore, though the amount of measured wind speed data at potential offshore wind farm sites is sparse. We present a novel methodology for the prediction of offshore wind power resources which is being applied to European Union waters. The first stage is to calculate the geostrophic wind from long-term pressure fields over the sea area of interest. Secondly, the geostrophic wind is transformed to the sea level using WA{sup s}P, taking account of near shore topography. Finally, these values are corrected for land/sea climatology (stability) effects using an analytical Coastal discontinuity Model (CDM). These values are further refined using high resolution offshore data at selected sites. The final values are validated against existing offshore datasets. Preliminary results are presented of the geostrophic wind speed validation in European Union waters. (au)

Computer modelling of the UK wind energy resource. Phase 2. Application of the methodology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burch, S F; Makari, M; Newton, K; Ravenscroft, F; Whittaker, J

1993-12-31

This report presents the results of the second phase of a programme to estimate the UK wind energy resource. The overall objective of the programme is to provide quantitative resource estimates using a mesoscale (resolution about 1km) numerical model for the prediction of wind flow over complex terrain, in conjunction with digitised terrain data and wind data from surface meteorological stations. A network of suitable meteorological stations has been established and long term wind data obtained. Digitised terrain data for the whole UK were obtained, and wind flow modelling using the NOABL computer program has been performed. Maps of extractable wind power have been derived for various assumptions about wind turbine characteristics. Validation of the methodology indicates that the results are internally consistent, and in good agreement with available comparison data. Existing isovent maps, based on standard meteorological data which take no account of terrain effects, indicate that 10m annual mean wind speeds vary between about 4.5 and 7 m/s over the UK with only a few coastal areas over 6 m/s. The present study indicates that 28% of the UK land area had speeds over 6 m/s, with many hill sites having 10m speeds over 10 m/s. It is concluded that these `first order` resource estimates represent a substantial improvement over the presently available `zero order` estimates. The results will be useful for broad resource studies and initial site screening. Detailed resource evaluation for local sites will require more detailed local modelling or ideally long term field measurements. (12 figures, 14 tables, 21 references). (Author)

GRASS GIS: The first Open Source Temporal GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Gebbert, Sören; Leppelt, Thomas

2015-04-01

over temporal aggregation, temporal accumulation, spatio-temporal statistics, spatio-temporal sampling, temporal algebra, temporal topology analysis, time series animation and temporal topology visualization to time series import and export capabilities with support for NetCDF and VTK data formats. We will present several temporal modules that support parallel processing of raster and 3D raster time series. [1] GRASS GIS Open Source Approaches in Spatial Data Handling In Open Source Approaches in Spatial Data Handling, Vol. 2 (2008), pp. 171-199, doi:10.1007/978-3-540-74831-19 by M. Neteler, D. Beaudette, P. Cavallini, L. Lami, J. Cepicky edited by G. Brent Hall, Michael G. Leahy [2] Gebbert, S., Pebesma, E., 2014. A temporal GIS for field based environmental modeling. Environ. Model. Softw. 53, 1-12. [3] Zambelli, P., Gebbert, S., Ciolli, M., 2013. Pygrass: An Object Oriented Python Application Programming Interface (API) for Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS) Geographic Information System (GIS). ISPRS Intl Journal of Geo-Information 2, 201-219. [4] Löwe, P., Klump, J., Thaler, J. (2012): The FOSS GIS Workbench on the GFZ Load Sharing Facility compute cluster, (Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 14, EGU2012-4491, 2012), General Assembly European Geosciences Union (Vienna, Austria 2012). [5] Akhter, S., Aida, K., Chemin, Y., 2010. "GRASS GIS on High Performance Computing with MPI, OpenMP and Ninf-G Programming Framework". ISPRS Conference, Kyoto, 9-12 August 2010

Rooftop wind resource assessment using a three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, D.C.; Whale, J.; Livingston, P.O.; Chan, D. [Murdoch Univ., Murdoch, WA (Australia)

2008-07-01

Building integrated wind turbines (BUWTs) are designed for the built environment and can be located on or next to buildings. In general, these types of urban wind turbines are less than 20 kW in rated capacity, and have the potential to contribute to the energy needs of the building and reduce overall emissions. There are currently over 32 manufacturers and 57 different urban wind turbine products available in Europe alone. The first rooftop wind system in Australia was installed in 2006. To data, 5 systems have been installed and there are plans for up to 20 more. The main problems associated with these types of systems are due to poor wind resources at the location or improper site selection for the turbine. This paper reported on a research study into initiating best practice guidelines for rooftop wind systems. There is a concern that environmentally conscious homeowners or businesses will install rooftop wind systems in support of sustainability, but without adequate consideration of safety, structural building integrity or turbine performance. The potential consequence of such projects could be the failure of the project due to underperforming turbines, noise, and vibration; or the development of a negative reputation for wind energy and the renewable energy industry. This study included 2 primary initiatives, notably a computer simulated modeling exercise and an onsite rooftop wind monitoring station. This paper focused on the methodology and justification for developing the monitoring station. An ultrasonic 3D anemometer was used to collect data and to develop a 3D wind profile. The wind regime on the rooftop in the complex terrain of the built environment was highly dynamic, turbulent, and included a strong vertical component. It was concluded that site selection for turbines must be determined by a proper feasibility study involving accurate data. Although the initial phase of the project to predict the resource and deploy the monitoring station has been

SAR-Based Wind Resource Statistics in the Baltic Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfredo Peña

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Ocean winds in the Baltic Sea are expected to power many wind farms in the coming years. This study examines satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR images from Envisat ASAR for mapping wind resources with high spatial resolution. Around 900 collocated pairs of wind speed from SAR wind maps and from 10 meteorological masts, established specifically for wind energy in the study area, are compared. The statistical results comparing in situ wind speed and SAR-based wind speed show a root mean square error of 1.17 m s−1, bias of −0.25 m s−1, standard deviation of 1.88 m s−1 and correlation coefficient of R2 0.783. Wind directions from a global atmospheric model, interpolated in time and space, are used as input to the geophysical model function CMOD-5 for SAR wind retrieval. Wind directions compared to mast observations show a root mean square error of 6.29° with a bias of 7.75°, standard deviation of 20.11° and R2 of 0.950. The scale and shape parameters, A and k, respectively, from the Weibull probability density function are compared at only one available mast and the results deviate ~2% for A but ~16% for k. Maps of A and k, and wind power density based on more than 1000 satellite images show wind power density values to range from 300 to 800 W m−2 for the 14 existing and 42 planned wind farms.

State of the art on wind resource estimation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maribo Pedersen, B.

1998-12-31

With the increasing number of wind resource estimation studies carried out for regions, countries and even larger areas all over the world, the IEA finds that the time has come to stop and take stock of the various methods used in these studies. The IEA would therefore like to propose an Experts Meeting on wind resource estimation. The Experts Meeting should describe the models and databases used in the various studies. It should shed light on the strengths and shortcomings of the models and answer questions like: where and under what circumstances should a specific model be used? what is the expected accuracy of the estimate of the model? and what is the applicability? When addressing databases the main goal will be to identify the content and scope of these. Further, the quality, availability and reliability of the databases must also be recognised. In the various studies of wind resources the models and databases have been combined in different ways. A final goal of the Experts Meeting is to see whether it is possible to develop systems of methods which would depend on the available input. These systems of methods should be able to address the simple case (level 0) of a region with barely no data, to the complex case of a region with all available measurements: surface observations, radio soundings, satellite observations and so on. The outcome of the meeting should be an inventory of available models as well as databases and a map of already studied regions. (au)

Evaluation of the climate change impact on wind resources in Taiwan Strait

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Tsang-Jung; Chen, Chun-Lung; Tu, Yi-Long; Yeh, Hung-Te; Wu, Yu-Ting

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We propose a new statistical downscaling framework to evaluate the climate change impact on wind resources in Taiwan Strait. • The statistical model relates Weibull distribution parameters to output of a GCM model and regression coefficients. • Validation of the simulated wind speed distribution presents an acceptable agreement with meteorological data. • Three chosen GCMs show the same tendency that the eastern half of Taiwan Strait stores higher wind resources. - Abstract: A new statistical downscaling framework is proposed to evaluate the climate change impact on wind resources in Taiwan Strait. In this framework, a two-parameter Weibull distribution function is used to estimate the wind energy density distribution in the strait. An empirically statistical downscaling model that relates the Weibull parameters to output of a General Circulation Model (GCM) and regression coefficients is adopted. The regression coefficients are calculated using wind speed results obtained from a past climate (1981–2000) simulation reconstructed by a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. These WRF-reconstructed wind speed results are validated with data collected at a weather station on an islet inside the strait. The comparison shows that the probability distributions of the monthly wind speeds obtained from WRF-reconstructed and measured wind speed data are in acceptable agreement, with small discrepancies of 10.3% and 7.9% for the shape and scale parameters of the Weibull distribution, respectively. The statistical downscaling framework with output from three chosen GCMs (i.e., ECHAM5, CM2.1 and CGCM2.3.2) is applied to evaluate the wind energy density distribution in Taiwan Strait for three future climate periods of 2011–2040, 2041–2070, and 2071–2100. The results show that the wind energy density distributions in the future climate periods are higher in the eastern half of Taiwan Strait, but reduce slightly by 3% compared with that in the

A systematic approach of bottom-up assessment methodology for an optimal design of hybrid solar/wind energy resources – Case study at middle east region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ifaei, Pouya; Karbassi, Abdolreza; Jacome, Gabriel; Yoo, ChangKyoo

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Proposing DaSOSaCa flowchart as a novel hybrid solar/wind assessment approach. • Calculating four key parameters to generate synthetic wind hourly data for Iran. • Proposing technical and economic hybrid solar/wind GIS maps of Iran. • Revising renewable energies management plans of Iran by macroeconomic evaluation. - Abstract: In the current study, an algorithm-based data processing, sizing, optimization, sensitivity analysis and clustering approach (DaSOSaCa) is proposed as an efficient simultaneous solar/wind assessment methodology. Accordingly, data processing is performed to obtain reliable high quality meteorological data among various datasets, which are used for hybrid photovoltaic/wind turbine/storage/converter system optimal design for consequent sites in a large region. The optimal hybrid systems are consequently simulated to meet hourly power demand in various sites. The solar/wind fraction and net present cost of the systems are then used as the technical and economic clustering variables, respectively. The clustering results are finally used as input to obtain novel hybrid solar/wind GIS maps. Iran is selected as the case study to validate the proposed methodology and detail its applicability. Ten minute annual global horizontal radiation, wind speed, and temperature data are analyzed, and the optimal, robust hybrid systems are simulated for various sites in order to classify the country. The generated GIS maps show that Iran can be efficiently clustered into four technical and five economic clusters under optimal conditions. The clustering results prove that Iran is mainly a solar country with approximately 74% solar power fraction under optimum conditions. A macroeconomic evaluation using DaSOSaCa also reveals that the nominal discount rate is recommended to be greater than 20% considering the current economic situation for the renewable energy sector in Iran. An environmental analysis results show that an average 106.68 tonCO 2

Stochastic Prediction of Wind Generating Resources Using the Enhanced Ensemble Model for Jeju Island’s Wind Farms in South Korea

OpenAIRE

Deockho Kim; Jin Hur

2017-01-01

Due to the intermittency of wind power generation, it is very hard to manage its system operation and planning. In order to incorporate higher wind power penetrations into power systems that maintain secure and economic power system operation, an accurate and efficient estimation of wind power outputs is needed. In this paper, we propose the stochastic prediction of wind generating resources using an enhanced ensemble model for Jeju Island’s wind farms in South Korea. When selecting the poten...

TVA GIS-based biomass resource assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noon, C.E. [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

1993-12-31

The focus of this paper is a computer-based system for estimating the costs of supplying wood fuel. The system is being developed for the Tennessee Valley Authority and is referred to as the Biomass Resource Assessment Version One (BRAVO) system. The main objective in developing the BRAVO system is to assist TVA in estimating the costs for supplying wood fuel to any one of its twelve coal-fired plants. The BRAVO system is developed within a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform and is designed to allow a user to perform {open_quotes}what if{close_quotes} analyses related to the costs of wood fuel supply. Three types of wood fuel are considered in the BRAVO system: mill residues, logging residues and short-rotation woody crops (SRWC). Each type of wood fuel has unique economic and supply characteristics. The input data for the system includes the specific locations, amount, and prices of the various types of wood fuel throughout the TVA region. The system input is completed by data on political boundaries, power plant locations, road networks and a model for estimating transportation costs as a function of distance. The result is a comprehensive system which includes information on all possible wood fuel supply joints, demand points and product movement costs. In addition, the BRAVO system has been designed to allow a user to perform sensitivity analysis on a variety of supply system parameters. This will enable TVA to thoroughly investigate the financial impacts of issues such as increased competition for wood fuel, environmental policies, fuel taxes, and regional economic cycles.

TVA GIS-based biomass resource assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noon, C.E.

1993-01-01

The focus of this paper is a computer-based system for estimating the costs of supplying wood fuel. The system is being developed for the Tennessee Valley Authority and is referred to as the Biomass Resource Assessment Version One (BRAVO) system. The main objective in developing the BRAVO system is to assist TVA in estimating the cost for supplying wood fuel to any one of its twelve coal-fired power plants. The BRAVO system is developed within a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform and is designed to allow a user to perform open-quotes what ifclose quotes analyses related to the costs of wood fuel supply. Three types of wood fuel are considered in the Bravo system: mill residues, logging residues and short-rotation woody crops (SRWC). Each type of wood fuel has unique economic and supply characteristics. The input data for the system includes the specific locations, amounts, and prices of the various types of wood fuel throughout the TVA region. The system input is completed by data on political boundaries, power plant locations, road networks and a model for estimating transportation costs as a function of distance. The result is a comprehensive system which includes information on all possible wood fuel supply points, demand points and product movement costs. In additions, the BRAVO system has been designed to allow a user to perform sensitivity analysis on a variety of supply system parameters. This will enable TVA to thoroughly investigate the financial impacts of issues such as increased competition for wood fuel, environmental policies, fuel taxes, and regional economic cycles

Wind resource in metropolitan France: assessment methods, variability and trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jourdier, Benedicte

2015-01-01

France has one of the largest wind potentials in Europe, yet far from being fully exploited. The wind resource and energy yield assessment is a key step before building a wind farm, aiming at predicting the future electricity production. Any over-estimation in the assessment process puts in jeopardy the project's profitability. This has been the case in the recent years, when wind farm managers have noticed that they produced less than expected. The under-production problem leads to questioning both the validity of the assessment methods and the inter-annual wind variability. This thesis tackles these two issues. In a first part are investigated the errors linked to the assessment methods, especially in two steps: the vertical extrapolation of wind measurements and the statistical modelling of wind-speed data by a Weibull distribution. The second part investigates the inter-annual to decadal variability of wind speeds, in order to understand how this variability may have contributed to the under-production and so that it is better taken into account in the future. (author) [fr

Application of an atmospheric CFD code to wind resource assessment in complex terrain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laporte, Laurent

2008-01-01

This thesis is organized in two parts. The first part presents the use of the atmospheric CFD code Mercure Saturne to estimate the wind resource in complex terrain. A measurement campaign was led by EDF to obtain data for validation. A methodology was developed using meso-scale profiles as boundary conditions. Clustering of meteorological situations was used to reduce the number of simulations needed to calculate the wind resource. The validation of the code on the Askervein hill, the methodology and comparisons with measurements from the complex site are presented. The second part presents the modeling of wakes with the Mercure Saturne code. Forces, generated by the blades on the wind, are modeled by source terms, calculated by the BEM method. Two comparisons are proposed to validate the method: the first compares the numerical model with wind tunnel measurements from a small wind turbine, the second with measurements made on porous disks in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel (author) [fr

Exploring China’s offshore wind energy potential in a comprehensive perspectives of technical, environmental and economic constraints

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hong, Lixuan; Möller, Bernd

with projections of current wind turbine technology development to calculate the maximum amount of offshore wind energy that could be generated. Secondly, to calculate practical potential, the migratory path of an endangered bird and existing shipping lanes and submarine cables are excluded from the calculated......Adequate recognition of offshore wind energy potential may have far-reaching influence on the development of future energy strategies. This study aims to investigate available offshore wind energy resource in China’s exclusive economic zones (EEZs) with the aid of a Geographical Information System...... (GIS), which allows the influence of technical, spatial and economic constraints on raw offshore wind potential being reflected in a continuous space. Firstly, based on ocean wind speed data gained from satellite QuikSCAT, raw potential are identified. Those findings are then used along...

Gis and public health

CERN Document Server

Cromley, Ellen K

2011-01-01

Authoritative and comprehensive, this is the leading text and professional resource on using geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze and address public health problems. Basic GIS concepts and tools are explained, including ways to access and manage spatial databases. The book presents state-of-the-art methods for mapping and analyzing data on population, health events, risk factors, and health services, and for incorporating geographical knowledge into planning and policy. Numerous maps, diagrams, and real-world applications are featured. The companion Web page provides lab exercises w

Alpine Windharvest: development of information base regarding potentials and the necessary technical, legal and socio-economic conditions for expanding wind energy in the Alpine Space - GIS analysis Franches Montagnes, Switzerland - Documentation of GIS concepts, methods and results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daellenbach, F.; Schaffner, B. [Meteotest, Berne (Switzerland)

2005-07-01

This report presents part of the development work carried out by the Swiss meteorology specialists of the company METEOTEST as part of a project carried out together with the Swiss wind-energy organisation 'Suisse Eole'. The framework for the project is the EU Interreg IIIB Alpine Space Programme, a European Community Initiative Programme funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The project investigated the use of digital relief-analysis. The series of reports describes the development and use of a basic information system to aid the investigation of the technical, legal and socio-economical conditions for the use of wind energy in the alpine area. This report documents the use of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) methodology for the 'Franches Montagnes' Region in Switzerland, whereby the most significant of the model's layers was found to be the wind velocity layer.

GIS-based approach for optimal siting and sizing of renewables considering techno-environmental constraints and the stochastic nature of meteorological inputs

Science.gov (United States)

Daskalou, Olympia; Karanastasi, Maria; Markonis, Yannis; Dimitriadis, Panayiotis; Koukouvinos, Antonis; Efstratiadis, Andreas; Koutsoyiannis, Demetris

2016-04-01

Following the legislative EU targets and taking advantage of its high renewable energy potential, Greece can obtain significant benefits from developing its water, solar and wind energy resources. In this context we present a GIS-based methodology for the optimal sizing and siting of solar and wind energy systems at the regional scale, which is tested in the Prefecture of Thessaly. First, we assess the wind and solar potential, taking into account the stochastic nature of the associated meteorological processes (i.e. wind speed and solar radiation, respectively), which is essential component for both planning (i.e., type selection and sizing of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines) and management purposes (i.e., real-time operation of the system). For the optimal siting, we assess the efficiency and economic performance of the energy system, also accounting for a number of constraints, associated with topographic limitations (e.g., terrain slope, proximity to road and electricity grid network, etc.), the environmental legislation and other land use constraints. Based on this analysis, we investigate favorable alternatives using technical, environmental as well as financial criteria. The final outcome is GIS maps that depict the available energy potential and the optimal layout for photovoltaic panels and wind turbines over the study area. We also consider a hypothetical scenario of future development of the study area, in which we assume the combined operation of the above renewables with major hydroelectric dams and pumped-storage facilities, thus providing a unique hybrid renewable system, extended at the regional scale.

Analysis of available wind resources and their suitability for hydrogen production in the Sacramento area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartholomy, O.J.

2004-01-01

This paper looks at the technical, economic, environmental and regulatory barriers to the production of hydrogen from local wind resources in Sacramento, CA. Both central and distributed hydrogen generation are compared. The technical analysis uses 6 years of hourly wind data from Solano County to define the diurnal and seasonal wind resource. The impacts of a fluctuating power source on the electrolyzer are examined as well as the grid or hydrogen distribution and storage infrastructure constraints for implementation. An economic analysis comparing the price of hydrogen produced from the local wind resource is done with sensitivity analyses for capital and operating costs of both wind turbines and electrolyzers. In addition, the economic analysis includes considerations of increased demand for wind electricity by California utilities attempting to meet their Renewable Portfolio Standards. The environmental analysis compares the emissions reductions of CO 2 and criteria pollutants for different energy usage scenarios. These include comparing electricity and transportation emissions rates to optimize the use of wind energy and natural gas, as well as comparison of SULEV hybrid vehicles with FCV's and H 2 ICE's. Finally, an examination of the existing regulatory structure and policies that could prevent or encourage the use of wind to produce hydrogen in Sacramento is also included. (author)

Combining the VAS 3D interpolation method and Wind Atlas methodology to produce a high-resolution wind resource map for the Czech Republic

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hanslian, David; Hošek, Jiří

2015-01-01

Roč. 77, May (2015), s. 291-299 ISSN 0960-1481 Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : wind resource map * wind field modelling * wind measurements * wind climatology * Czech Republic * WAsP Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 3.404, year: 2015 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148114008398#

Bird Mortaility at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area: March 1998--September 2001

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smallwood, K. S.; Thelander, C. G.

2005-09-01

Over the past 15 years, research has shown that wind turbines in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) kill many birds, including raptors, which are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and/or state and federal Endangered Species Acts. Early research in the APWRA on avian mortality mainly attempted to identify the extent of the problem. In 1998, however, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) initiated research to address the causal relationships between wind turbines and bird mortality. NREL funded a project by BioResource Consultants to perform this research directed at identifying and addressing the causes of mortality of various bird species from wind turbines in the APWRA.With 580 megawatts (MW) of installed wind turbine generating capacity in the APWRA, wind turbines there provide up to 1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of emissions-free electricity annually. By identifying and implementing new methods and technologies to reduce or resolve bird mortality in the APWRA, power producers may be able to increase wind turbine electricity production at the site and apply similar mortality-reduction methods at other sites around the state and country.

Results from utility wind resource assessment programs in Nebraska, Colorado, and Arizona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drapeau, C.L. [Global Energy Concepts, Inc., Bothell, WA (United States)

1997-12-31

Global Energy Concepts (GEC) has been retained by utilities in Colorado, Nebraska, and Arizona to site, install, and operate 21 wind monitoring stations as part of the Utility Wind Resource Assessment Program (U*WRAP). Preliminary results indicate wind speed averages at 40 meters (132 ft) of 6.5 - 7.4 m/s (14.5-16.5 mph) in Nebraska and 7.6 - 8.9 m/s (17.0-19.9 mph) in Colorado. The Arizona stations are not yet operational. This paper presents the history and current status of the 21 monitoring stations as well as preliminary data results. Information on wind speeds, wind direction, turbulence intensity, wind shear, frequency distribution, and data recovery rates are provided.

Paper-Based GIS: A Practical Answer to the Implementation of GIS Education into Resource-Poor Schools in South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Breetzke, Gregory; Eksteen, Sanet; Pretorius, Erika

2011-01-01

Geographical information systems (GIS) were phased into the geography curriculum of South African schools from 2006-2008 as part of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for grades 10-12. Since its introduction, GIS education in schools across the country has been met with a number of challenges including the cost of purchasing the hardware and…

[Design and implementation of real-time control of changes to national Chinese medicine resources fill system based on GIS].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Tian; Li, Jun-de; Cheng, Meng; Li, Ying; Lin, Zhong-Bin; Shen, Yi-Hua; Huang, Lu-Qi

2017-11-01

The dynamic monitoring data of traditional Chinese medicine resources is one of the important tasks of the dynamic monitoring system of Chinese medicine resources,the system has formed a periodic monitoring data reporting mechanism. Data authenticity and accuracy are the basis for the sustainable and healthy development of Chinese medicine resources dynamic monitoring,information technology is an effective means to improve the efficiency of data reporting, reporting quality. Data production based on dynamic monitoring is of great significance for grasp the trend of change and development of Chinese medicine resources. In order to achieve the real-time control of changes to the national Chinese medicine resources, we build the Chinese medicine resources dynamic monitoring system. In order to solve the problems in practice, we have upgraded the fill system by using the data of GIS. In order to achieve the multidimensional, improve safety, practicality and standardization of the data, which laid a foundation for subsequent processing of data. The system can collect the information of the cultivation of Chinese herbal medicines,production and sales of daily reporting data, provide the Chinese herbal medicine market,fast growing industry environment such as positioning center. In this paper, the design and implementation of the system are expounded.According to the business requirements, we designed 12 forms, 98 collection indicators to meet the needs of dynamic monitoring of traditional Chinese medicine resources. This paper will introduce the development content, design and implementation, main function characteristics and application effect of the national Chinese medicine resources fill System. To explain the role that GIS technology plays in the system and how to realize the cultivation of Chinese herbal medicines, production and sales of daily reporting data, provide the Chinese herbal medicine market,fast growing industry environment such as positioning center

Resource Sharing in the Logistics of the Offshore Wind Farm Installation Process based on a Simulation Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thies Beinke

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This present contribution examines by means of a discrete event and agent-based simulation the potential of a joint use of resources in the installation phase of offshore wind energy. To this end, wind farm projects to be installed simultaneously are being examined, the impact of weather restrictions on the processes of loading, transport and installation are also taken into consideration, and both the wind farm specific resource allocation and the approach of a resource pool or resource sharing, respectively, are being implemented. This study is motivated by the large number of wind farms that will be installed in the future and by the potential savings that might be realized through resource sharing. While, so far, the main driver of the resource sharing approach has been the end consumer market, it has been applied in more and more areas, even in relatively conservative industries such as logistics. After the presentation of the backgrounds and of the underlying methodology, and the description of the prior art in this context, the network of the offshore wind energy installation phase will be described. This is the basis for the subsequent determination of the savings potential of a shared resource utilization, which is determined by the performance indicators such as the total installation time and degree of utilization of the resources. The results of the simulation show that weather restrictions have a significant effect on the installation times and the usage times of the resources as well as on their degree of utilization. In addition, the resource sharing approach, has been identified to have significant savings potential for the offshore wind energy installation.

Tidal influence on offshore wind fields and resource predictions[Efficient Development of Offshore Windfarms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khan, D. [Entec UK Ltd., Doherty Innovation Centre, Penicuik (United Kingdom); Infield, D. [Loughborough Univ., Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Tecnology, Loughborough (United Kingdom)

2002-03-01

The rise and fall of the sea surface due to tides effectively moves an offshore wind turbine hub through the wind shear profile. This effect is quantified using measured data from 3 offshore UK sites. Statistical evidence of the influence of tide on mean wind speed and turbulence is presented. The implications of this effect for predicting offshore wind resource are outlined. (au)

Assessing climate change impacts on the near-term stability of the wind energy resource over the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Pryor, S C; Barthelmie, R J

2011-05-17

The energy sector comprises approximately two-thirds of global total greenhouse gas emissions. For this and other reasons, renewable energy resources including wind power are being increasingly harnessed to provide electricity generation potential with negligible emissions of carbon dioxide. The wind energy resource is naturally a function of the climate system because the "fuel" is the incident wind speed and thus is determined by the atmospheric circulation. Some recent articles have reported historical declines in measured near-surface wind speeds, leading some to question the continued viability of the wind energy industry. Here we briefly articulate the challenges inherent in accurately quantifying and attributing historical tendencies and making robust projections of likely future wind resources. We then analyze simulations from the current generation of regional climate models and show, at least for the next 50 years, the wind resource in the regions of greatest wind energy penetration will not move beyond the historical envelope of variability. Thus this work suggests that the wind energy industry can, and will, continue to make a contribution to electricity provision in these regions for at least the next several decades.

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Maya Quinones; William Gould; Carlos D. Rodriguez-Pedraza

2007-01-01

This report documents the type and source of geospatial data available for Haiti. It was compiled to serve as a resource for geographic information system (GIS)-based land management and planning. It will be useful for conservation planning, reforestation efforts, and agricultural extension projects. Our study indicates that there is a great deal of geospatial...

Teaching Thousands with Cloud-based GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Michael; DiBiase, David; Beale, Linda

2016-04-01

Teaching Thousands with Cloud-based GIS Educators often draw a distinction between "teaching about GIS" and "teaching with GIS." Teaching about GIS involves helping students learn what GIS is, what it does, and how it works. On the other hand, teaching with GIS involves using the technology as a means to achieve education objectives in the sciences, social sciences, professional disciplines like engineering and planning, and even the humanities. The same distinction applies to CyberGIS. Understandably, early efforts to develop CyberGIS curricula and educational resources tend to be concerned primarily with CyberGIS itself. However, if CyberGIS becomes as functional, usable and scalable as it aspires to be, teaching with CyberGIS has the potential to enable large and diverse global audiences to perform spatial analysis using hosted data, mapping and analysis services all running in the cloud. Early examples of teaching tens of thousands of students across the globe with cloud-based GIS include the massive open online courses (MOOCs) offered by Penn State University and others, as well as the series of MOOCs more recently developed and offered by Esri. In each case, ArcGIS Online was used to help students achieve educational objectives in subjects like business, geodesign, geospatial intelligence, and spatial analysis, as well as mapping. Feedback from the more than 100,000 total student participants to date, as well as from the educators and staff who supported these offerings, suggest that online education with cloud-based GIS is scalable to very large audiences. Lessons learned from the course design, development, and delivery of these early examples may be useful in informing the continuing development of CyberGIS education. While MOOCs may have passed the peak of their "hype cycle" in higher education, the phenomenon they revealed persists: namely, a global mass market of educated young adults who turn to free online education to expand their horizons. The

A GIS Approach to Wind,SST(Sea Surface Temperature) and CHL(Chlorophyll) variations in the Caspian Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Mirkhalili, Seyedhamzeh

2016-07-01

Chlorophyll is an extremely important bio-molecule, critical in photosynthesis, which allows plants to absorb energy from light. At the base of the ocean food web are single-celled algae and other plant-like organisms known as Phytoplankton. Like plants on land, Phytoplankton use chlorophyll and other light-harvesting pigments to carry out photosynthesis. Where Phytoplankton grow depends on available sunlight, temperature, and nutrient levels. In this research a GIS Approach using ARCGIS software and QuikSCAT satellite data was applied to visualize WIND,SST(Sea Surface Temperature) and CHL(Chlorophyll) variations in the Caspian Sea.Results indicate that increase in chlorophyll concentration in coastal areas is primarily driven by terrestrial nutrients and does not imply that warmer SST will lead to an increase in chlorophyll concentration and consequently Phytoplankton abundance.

Advanced GIS Exercise: Performing Error Analysis in ArcGIS ModelBuilder

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Steven T.; Post, Christopher J.

2009-01-01

Knowledge of Geographic Information Systems is quickly becoming an integral part of the natural resource professionals' skill set. With the growing need of professionals with these skills, we created an advanced geographic information systems (GIS) exercise for students at Clemson University to introduce them to the concept of error analysis,…

Southward shift of the global wind energy resource under high carbon dioxide emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Karnauskas, Kristopher B.; Lundquist, Julie K.; Zhang, Lei

2018-01-01

The use of wind energy resource is an integral part of many nations' strategies towards realizing the carbon emissions reduction targets set forth in the Paris Agreement, and global installed wind power cumulative capacity has grown on average by 22% per year since 2006. However, assessments of wind energy resource are usually based on today's climate, rather than taking into account that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions continue to modify the global atmospheric circulation. Here, we apply an industry wind turbine power curve to simulations of high and low future emissions scenarios in an ensemble of ten fully coupled global climate models to investigate large-scale changes in wind power across the globe. Our calculations reveal decreases in wind power across the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes and increases across the tropics and Southern Hemisphere, with substantial regional variations. The changes across the northern mid-latitudes are robust responses over time in both emissions scenarios, whereas the Southern Hemisphere changes appear critically sensitive to each individual emissions scenario. In addition, we find that established features of climate change can explain these patterns: polar amplification is implicated in the northern mid-latitude decrease in wind power, and enhanced land-sea thermal gradients account for the tropical and southern subtropical increases.

Human resources challenges for wind energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cottingham, C. [Electricity Sector Council, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2006-07-01

The potential role of the Electricity Sector Council in wind power workforce development was reviewed. Canada is a major exporter of electricity, and production of electricity in the country has grown by 10 per cent in the last 10 years. The electric industry has become increasingly interested in the development of renewable and sustainable energy sources in order to reduce the environmental impacts of electricity production and use, as well to address potential supply shortages. However, total labour force growth in Canada is expected to drop to 0.5 per cent by 2010, and is expected to keep falling. Engineering and science enrolments in post-secondary institutions are declining. Many immigrants to Canada choose to settle in metropolitan areas, and only 4 in 10 immigrants are able to achieve validation of their credentials in the Canadian education system. One-third of Canadian employees are expected to retire in the next 8 years. The wind energy sector is the fastest growing energy source sector in Canada, and there are limited training facilities available. Competency profiles for roles in the industry are not clearly defined. Many provinces have very little development to support or sustain educational services for wind power training. This presentation suggested that the wind energy sector should prepare for the anticipated workforce shortage by planning training programs and building partnerships in workforce development. Investments in wind power research and development should have contract provisions regarding labour and skills development. Retiring electricity workers may provide a source of labour support. Sector councils provide a neutral forum for employers, educators, and employees, with a focus on human resource development for specific industry sectors. The councils represent an estimated 45 to 50 per cent of the labour market, and have significant federal funding. The Electricity Sector Council offers advanced career and workforce training; youth

Towards a GIS Evaluation Methodology

African Journals Online (AJOL)

sekuru

Abstract. There is a growing use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) within the public sector in ... decision making and in public policy formulation and implementation. From a public sector .... Directorate of Water Resources Management.

Characterization of the Wind Power Resource in Europe and its Intermittency

Science.gov (United States)

Cosseron, Alexandra; Gunturu, Bhaskar; Schlosser, Adam

2013-04-01

Thanks to incentives from the European Union and recent events, the political situation in Europe has never been so favorable towards renewables. As one of the most mature technologies among them, wind power has been chosen to be assessed over Europe, with a special care given to intermittency and variability quantifications. The goal of this study is to construct and analyze the availability and variability of the wind potential across Europe using the methodology developed in Gunturu and Schlosser (2011). The Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) boundary flux data was used to construct wind profiles at 50, 80, 100 and 120 meters height over a domain spreading from Iceland to the western end of Ukraine. Comparisons and contrasts with previous works have asserted the reliability of the data and computations used in the analysis. It must be emphasized though that the data set used in this study has a thirty-year length, a time resolution of an hour and is a reconstruction of the atmospheric state by assimilating observational data from different platforms into a global model. Various metrics, such as coefficients of variation, inter-quartile ranges, capacity factors and wind episode lengths, have been introduced to assess magnitude and variability of wind power. Then, unconventional variables have been designed to further study the availability and reliability of this resource. Thus, to study the correlation between wind episodes across Europe, parameters called antiCoincidence and antiNullCoincidence have been built. Pragmatically, the seven closest grid points in each direction at every grid point have been studied to assess whether they had wind when the considered point had or had not. The analysis of these variables leads to the conclusion that wind-proponents' favorite statement, "wind always blows somewhere", may not be so true. All of these metrics have finally allowed a better understanding of wind power features over

GIS-Based Approach for Municipal Renewable Energy Planning to Support Post-Earthquake Revitalization: A Japanese Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qianna Wang

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Following a regional-level study conducted in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (Wang et al., 2014 [1], this paper presents an approach for municipal renewable energy planning and its experimental application in a Japanese municipality using a Geographic Information System (GIS. The proposed approach is comprised of local issue identification, renewable energy potential evaluation and visualization, site comparison and scenario analysis. GIS was used to analyze and visualize solar, wind and biomass (forest and agriculture residue potential within Kawamata Town, Fukushima, Japan. According to local conditions, all potential sites were coded and then compared based on different criteria, such as solar radiation, wind speed, slope and land uses, among others. In the scenario analysis section, two scenarios, “renewable energy prioritized” and ”evacuation area prioritized”, were adopted and compared. The scenarios are altered in terms of placement and the number of renewable energy facilities inside and outside evacuation areas within the town. The results generated through the proposed approach can provide information on local potentials of renewable energy resources, as well as renewable energy development alternatives at the municipal level. They can be used in the interactive dialogue for the municipal renewable energy planning process, to help to fulfill the municipality’s post-earthquake energy developmental vision.

Open source GIS for HIV/AIDS management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricketts Adam

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Reliable access to basic services can improve a community's resilience to HIV/AIDS. Accordingly, work is being done to upgrade the physical infrastructure in affected areas, often employing a strategy of decentralised service provision. Spatial characteristics are one of the major determinants in implementing services, even in the smaller municipal areas, and good quality spatial information is needed to inform decision making processes. However, limited funds, technical infrastructure and human resource capacity result in little or no access to spatial information for crucial infrastructure development decisions at local level. This research investigated whether it would be possible to develop a GIS for basic infrastructure planning and management at local level. Given the resource constraints of the local government context, particularly in small municipalities, it was decided that open source software should be used for the prototype system. Results The design and development of a prototype system illustrated that it is possible to develop an open source GIS system that can be used within the context of local information management. Usability tests show a high degree of usability for the system, which is important considering the heavy workload and high staff turnover that characterises local government in South Africa. Local infrastructure management stakeholders interviewed in a case study of a South African municipality see the potential for the use of GIS as a communication tool and are generally positive about the use of GIS for these purposes. They note security issues that may arise through the sharing of information, lack of skills and resource constraints as the major barriers to adoption. Conclusion The case study shows that spatial information is an identified need at local level. Open source GIS software can be used to develop a system to provide local-level stakeholders with spatial information. However, the

Analysis the Transient Process of Wind Power Resources when there are Voltage Sags in Distribution Grid

Science.gov (United States)

Nhu Y, Do

2018-03-01

Vietnam has many advantages of wind power resources. Time by time there are more and more capacity as well as number of wind power project in Vietnam. Corresponding to the increase of wind power emitted into national grid, It is necessary to research and analyze in order to ensure the safety and reliability of win power connection. In national distribution grid, voltage sag occurs regularly, it can strongly influence on the operation of wind power. The most serious consequence is the disconnection. The paper presents the analysis of distribution grid's transient process when voltage is sagged. Base on the analysis, the solutions will be recommended to improve the reliability and effective operation of wind power resources.

Practical Robust Optimization Method for Unit Commitment of a System with Integrated Wind Resource

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanchao Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Unit commitment, one of the significant tasks in power system operations, faces new challenges as the system uncertainty increases dramatically due to the integration of time-varying resources, such as wind. To address these challenges, we propose the formulation and solution of a generalized unit commitment problem for a system with integrated wind resources. Given the prespecified interval information acquired from real central wind forecasting system for uncertainty representation of nodal wind injections with their correlation information, the proposed unit commitment problem solution is computationally tractable and robust against all uncertain wind power injection realizations. We provide a solution approach to tackle this problem with complex mathematical basics and illustrate the capabilities of the proposed mixed integer solution approach on the large-scale power system of the Northwest China Grid. The numerical results demonstrate that the approach is realistic and not overly conservative in terms of the resulting dispatch cost outcomes.

State of the Art and Trends in Wind Resource Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliver Probst

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Given the significant rise of the utilization of wind energy the accurate assessment of the wind potential is becoming increasingly important. Direct applications of wind assessment techniques include the creation of wind maps on a local scale (typically 5 20 km and the micrositing of wind turbines, the estimation of vertical wind speed variations, prospecting on a regional scale (>100 km, estimation of the long-term wind resource at a given site, and forecasting. The measurement of wind speed and direction still widely relies on cup anemometers, though sonic anemometers are becoming increasingly popular. Moreover, remote sensing by Doppler techniques using the backscattering of either sonic beams (SODAR or light (LIDAR allowing for vertical profiling well beyond hub height are quickly moving into the mainstream. Local wind maps are based on the predicted modification of the regional wind flow pattern by the local atmospheric boundary layer which in turn depends on both topographic and roughness features and the measured wind rose obtained from one or several measurement towers within the boundaries of the planned development site. Initial models were based on linearized versions of the Navier-Stokes equations, whereas more recently full CFD models have been applied to wind farm micrositing. Linear models tend to perform well for terrain slopes lower than about 25% and have the advantage of short execution times. Long-term performance is frequently estimated from correlations with nearby reference stations with concurrent information and continuous time series over a period of at least 10 years. Simple methods consider only point-to-point linear correlations; more advanced methods like multiple regression techniques and methods based on the theory of distributions will be discussed. Both for early prospecting in regions where only scarce or unreliable reference information is available, wind flow modeling on a larger scale (mesoscale is becoming

Smoothing out the volatility of South Africa’s wind and solar energy resources

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mushwana, Crescent

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In the past, renewables were mainly driven by the US, Europe and China, but South Africa is slowly picking up. This presentation discusses South Africa's wind and solar resources as alternative energy resources....

[Applications of GIS in biomass energy source research].

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Xian-Ming; Wang, Wu-Kui; Li, Yi-Wei; Sun, Wen-Xiang; Shi, Hai; Zhang, Da-Hong

2010-03-01

Biomass resources have the characteristics of widespread and dispersed distribution, which have close relations to the environment, climate, soil, and land use, etc. Geographic information system (GIS) has the functions of spatial analysis and the flexibility of integrating with other application models and algorithms, being of predominance to the biomass energy source research. This paper summarized the researches on the GIS applications in biomass energy source research, with the focus in the feasibility study of bioenergy development, assessment of biomass resources amount and distribution, layout of biomass exploitation and utilization, evaluation of gaseous emission from biomass burning, and biomass energy information system. Three perspectives of GIS applications in biomass energy source research were proposed, i. e., to enrich the data source, to improve the capacity on data processing and decision-support, and to generate the online proposal.

Wind deployment in the United States: states, resources, policy, and discourse.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Elizabeth J; Stephens, Jennie C

2009-12-15

A transformation in the way the United States produces and uses energy is needed to achieve greenhouse gas reduction targets for climate change mitigation. Wind power is an important low-carbon technology and the most rapidly growing renewable energy technology in the U.S. Despite recent advances in wind deployment, significant state-by-state variation in wind power distribution cannot be explained solely by wind resource patterns nor by state policy. Other factors embedded within the state-level socio-political context also contribute to wind deployment patterns. We explore this socio-political context in four U.S. states by integrating multiple research methods. Through comparative state-level analysis of the energy system, energy policy, and public discourse as represented in the media, we examine variation in the context for wind deployment in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, and Texas. Our results demonstrate that these states have different patterns of wind deployment, are engaged in different debates about wind power, and appear to frame the risks and benefits of wind power in different ways. This comparative assessment highlights the complex variation of the state-level socio-political context and contributes depth to our understanding of energy technology deployment processes, decision-making, and outcomes.

Small scale wind power harnessing in Colombian oil industry facilities: Wind resource and technology issues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giraldo, Mauricio; Nieto, Cesar; Escudero, Ana C.; Cobos, Juan C.; Delgado, Fernando

2010-07-01

Full text: Looking to improve its national and international standing, Colombia's national oil company, Ecopetrol, has set its goal on becoming involved on the production of energy from multiple sources, most importantly, on having an important percentage of its installed capacity from renewable sources. Part of this effort entices the evaluation of wind power potential on its facilities, including production, transportation and administrative, as well as identifying those technologies most suitable for the specific conditions of an equatorial country such as Colombia. Due to the lack of adequate site information, the first step consisted in superimposing national data to the facilities map of the company; this allowed for the selection of the first set of potential sites. From this set, the terminal at Covenas-Sucre was selected taking into account not only wind resource, but ease of access and power needs, as well as having a more or less representative wind potential in comparison to the rest of the country. A weather station was then installed to monitor wind variables. Measurements taken showed high variations in wind direction, and relatively low velocity profiles, making most commercially available wind turbines difficult to implement. In light of the above, a series of iterative steps were taken, first considering a range of individual Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT), given their capacity to adapt to changing wind directions. However, wind speed variations proved to be a challenge for individual VAWT's, i.e. Darriues turbines do not work well with low wind speeds, and Savonius turbines are not efficient of high wind speeds. As a result, a combined Darrieus- Savonius VAWT was selected given the capacity to adapt to both wind regimes, while at the same time modifying the size and shape of the blades in order to adapt to the lower average wind speeds present at the site. The resulting prototype is currently under construction and is scheduled to

Advanced GIS Exercise: Estimating Beach and Dune Erosion in Coastal South Carolina

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Steven T.; Post, Christopher J.

2008-01-01

Many natural resources graduate students across the nation are being required to learn proper use of geographic information systems (GIS) to include not only in their graduate research, but to also prepare for a career as a professional in natural resources. This demand creates a need for graduate students to be properly instructed in GIS.…

On the Wind Energy Resource and Its Trend in the East China Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adekunle Ayodotun Osinowo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study utilizes a 30-year (1980–2009 10 m wind field dataset obtained from the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast to investigate the wind energy potential in the East China Sea (ECS by using Weibull shape and scale parameters. The region generally showed good wind characteristics. The calculated annual mean of the wind power resource revealed the potential of the region for large-scale grid-connected wind turbine applications. Furthermore, the spatiotemporal variations showed strong trends in wind power in regions surrounding Taiwan Island. These regions were evaluated with high wind potential and were rated as excellent locations for installation of large wind turbines for electrical energy generation. Nonsignificant and negative trends dominated the ECS and the rest of the regions; therefore, these locations were found to be suitable for small wind applications. The wind power density exhibited an insignificant trend in the ECS throughout the study period. The trend was strongest during spring and weakest during autumn.

Gis-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Forest Fire Risk Mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Akay, A. E.; Erdoğan, A.

2017-11-01

The forested areas along the coastal zone of the Mediterranean region in Turkey are classified as first-degree fire sensitive areas. Forest fires are major environmental disaster that affects the sustainability of forest ecosystems. Besides, forest fires result in important economic losses and even threaten human lives. Thus, it is critical to determine the forested areas with fire risks and thereby minimize the damages on forest resources by taking necessary precaution measures in these areas. The risk of forest fire can be assessed based on various factors such as forest vegetation structures (tree species, crown closure, tree stage), topographic features (slope and aspect), and climatic parameters (temperature, wind). In this study, GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method was used to generate forest fire risk map. The study was implemented in the forested areas within Yayla Forest Enterprise Chiefs at Dursunbey Forest Enterprise Directorate which is classified as first degree fire sensitive area. In the solution process, "extAhp 2.0" plug-in running Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method in ArcGIS 10.4.1 was used to categorize study area under five fire risk classes: extreme risk, high risk, moderate risk, and low risk. The results indicated that 23.81 % of the area was of extreme risk, while 25.81 % was of high risk. The result indicated that the most effective criterion was tree species, followed by tree stages. The aspect had the least effective criterion on forest fire risk. It was revealed that GIS techniques integrated with MCDA methods are effective tools to quickly estimate forest fire risk at low cost. The integration of these factors into GIS can be very useful to determine forested areas with high fire risk and also to plan forestry management after fire.

Transient Recovery Voltages at the Main 132kV Line Bay GIS Circuit Breaker in a Windfarm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arana Aristi, Iván; Okholm, J.; Holbøll, Joachim

2011-01-01

This paper presents the results of investigations of the Transient Recovery Voltage (TRV) across the terminals of the main 132kV Line Bay GIS circuit breaker (GIS CB) for Walney 2, second phase of the Walney Offshore Wind Farm. Several simulations were performed where the influence of different...

Suitability Analyses of Wind Power Generation Complex in South Korea by Using Environmental & Social Criterias

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Y.; Jeon, S. W.; Seong, M.

2017-12-01

In case of wind-power, one of the most economical renewable energy resources, it is highly emerged owing to the strategic aspect of the response of environmental restriction and strong energy security as well as the upcoming motivation for huge industrial growth in the future. According to the fourth Fundamental Renewable Energy Plan, declared in Sep. 2014, the government instituted the scheme to minimize the proportion of previous RDF(Refused Derived Fuel) till 2035, promoting the solar power and wind power as the core energy for the next generation. Especially in South Korea, it is somewhat desperate to suggest the standard for environmentally optimal locations of wind power setup accompanied with the prevention of disasters from the climate changes. This is because that in case of South Korea, most of suitable places for Wind power complex are in the ridge of the mountains, where is highly invaluable sites as the pool of bio-resources and ecosystem conservations. In this research, we are to focus on the analysis of suitable locations for wind farm site which is relevant to the meteorological and geological factors, by utilizing GIS techniques through the whole South Korea. Ultimately, this analyses are to minimize the adverse effect derived from the current development of wind power in mountain ridges and the time for negotiation for wind power advance.

Avian Monitoring and Risk Assessment at the San Gorgonio Wind Resource Area

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, R.; Tom, J.; Neumann, N.; Erickson, W. P.; Strickland, M. D.; Bourassa, M.; Bay, K. J.; Sernka, K. J.

2005-08-01

The primary objective of this study at the San Gorgonio Wind Resource Area was to estimate and compare bird utilization, fatality rates, and the risk index among factors including bird taxonomic groups, wind turbine and reference areas, wind turbine sizes and types, and geographic locations. The key questions addressed to meet this objective include: (1) Are there any differences in the level of bird activity, called ''utilization rate'' or ''use'', with the operating wind plant and within the surrounding undeveloped areas (reference area)?; (2) Are there any differences in the rate of bird fatalities (or avian fatality) within the operating wind plant or the surrounding undeveloped areas (reference area)?; (3) Does bird use, fatality rates, or bird risk index vary according to the geographic location, type and size of wind turbine, and/or type of bird within the operating wind plant and surrounding undeveloped areas (reference area)?; and (4) How do raptor fatality rates at San Gorgonio compare to other wind projects with comparable data?

Offshore Wind Resources Assessment from Multiple Satellite Data and WRF Modeling over South China Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chang, Rui; Rong, Zhu; Badger, Merete

2015-01-01

offshore winds which can be used for offshore wind resource assessment. First, wind speeds retrieved from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Scatterometer ASCAT images were validated against in situ measurements from seven coastal meteorological stations in South China Sea (SCS). The wind roses from...... (SD) of 2.09 m/s (1.83 m/s) and correlation coefficient of R 0.75 (0.80). When the offshore winds (i.e., winds directed from land to sea) are excluded, the comparison results for wind speeds show an improvement of SD and R, indicating that the satellite data are more credible over the open ocean...

Emerging role of Geographical Information System (GIS), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and spatial LCA (GIS-LCA) in sustainable bioenergy planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Hiloidhari, Moonmoon; Baruah, D C; Singh, Anoop; Kataki, Sampriti; Medhi, Kristina; Kumari, Shilpi; Ramachandra, T V; Jenkins, B M; Thakur, Indu Shekhar

2017-10-01

Sustainability of a bioenergy project depends on precise assessment of biomass resource, planning of cost-effective logistics and evaluation of possible environmental implications. In this context, this paper reviews the role and applications of geo-spatial tool such as Geographical Information System (GIS) for precise agro-residue resource assessment, biomass logistic and power plant design. Further, application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in understanding the potential impact of agro-residue bioenergy generation on different ecosystem services has also been reviewed and limitations associated with LCA variability and uncertainty were discussed. Usefulness of integration of GIS into LCA (i.e. spatial LCA) to overcome the limitations of conventional LCA and to produce a holistic evaluation of the environmental benefits and concerns of bioenergy is also reviewed. Application of GIS, LCA and spatial LCA can help alleviate the challenges faced by ambitious bioenergy projects by addressing both economics and environmental goals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wind Resource Assessment in Complex Terrain with a High-Resolution Numerical Weather Prediction Model

Science.gov (United States)

Gruber, Karin; Serafin, Stefano; Grubišić, Vanda; Dorninger, Manfred; Zauner, Rudolf; Fink, Martin

2014-05-01

A crucial step in planning new wind farms is the estimation of the amount of wind energy that can be harvested in possible target sites. Wind resource assessment traditionally entails deployment of masts equipped for wind speed measurements at several heights for a reasonably long period of time. Simplified linear models of atmospheric flow are then used for a spatial extrapolation of point measurements to a wide area. While linear models have been successfully applied in the wind resource assessment in plains and offshore, their reliability in complex terrain is generally poor. This represents a major limitation to wind resource assessment in Austria, where high-altitude locations are being considered for new plant sites, given the higher frequency of sustained winds at such sites. The limitations of linear models stem from two key assumptions in their formulation, the neutral stratification and attached boundary-layer flow, both of which often break down in complex terrain. Consequently, an accurate modeling of near-surface flow over mountains requires the adoption of a NWP model with high horizontal and vertical resolution. This study explores the wind potential of a site in Styria in the North-Eastern Alps. The WRF model is used for simulations with a maximum horizontal resolution of 800 m. Three nested computational domains are defined, with the innermost one encompassing a stretch of the relatively broad Enns Valley, flanked by the main crest of the Alps in the south and the Nördliche Kalkalpen of similar height in the north. In addition to the simulation results, we use data from fourteen 10-m wind measurement sites (of which 7 are located within valleys and 5 near mountain tops) and from 2 masts with anemometers at several heights (at hillside locations) in an area of 1600 km2 around the target site. The potential for wind energy production is assessed using the mean wind speed and turbulence intensity at hub height. The capacity factor is also evaluated

Continuous spatial modelling to analyse planning and economic consequences of offshore wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moeller, Bernd

2011-01-01

Offshore wind resources appear abundant, but technological, economic and planning issues significantly reduce the theoretical potential. While massive investments are anticipated and planners and developers are scouting for viable locations and consider risk and impact, few studies simultaneously address potentials and costs together with the consequences of proposed planning in an analytical and continuous manner and for larger areas at once. Consequences may be investments short of efficiency and equity, and failed planning routines. A spatial resource economic model for the Danish offshore waters is presented, used to analyse area constraints, technological risks, priorities for development and opportunity costs of maintaining competing area uses. The SCREAM-offshore wind model (Spatially Continuous Resource Economic Analysis Model) uses raster-based geographical information systems (GIS) and considers numerous geographical factors, technology and cost data as well as planning information. Novel elements are weighted visibility analysis and geographically recorded shipping movements as variable constraints. A number of scenarios have been described, which include restrictions of using offshore areas, as well as alternative uses such as conservation and tourism. The results comprise maps, tables and cost-supply curves for further resource economic assessment and policy analysis. A discussion of parameter variations exposes uncertainties of technology development, environmental protection as well as competing area uses and illustrates how such models might assist in ameliorating public planning, while procuring decision bases for the political process. The method can be adapted to different research questions, and is largely applicable in other parts of the world. - Research Highlights: → A model for the spatially continuous evaluation of offshore wind resources. → Assessment of spatial constraints, costs and resources for each location. → Planning tool for

Remotely sensed data fusion for offshore wind energy resource mapping; Fusion de donnees satellitaires pour la cartographie du potentiel eolien offshore

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ben Ticha, M.B

2007-11-15

Wind energy is a component of an energy policy contributing to a sustainable development. Last years, offshore wind parks have been installed offshore. These parks benefit from higher wind speeds and lower turbulence than onshore. To sit a wind park, it is necessary to have a mapping of wind resource. These maps are needed at high spatial resolution to show wind energy resource variations at the scale of a wind park. Wind resource mapping is achieved through the description of the spatial variations of statistical parameters characterizing wind climatology. For a precise estimation of these statistical parameters, high temporal resolution wind speed and direction measurements are needed. However, presently, there is no data source allying high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution. We propose a data fusion method taking advantage of the high spatial resolution of some remote sensing instruments (synthetic aperture radars) and the high temporal resolution of other remote sensing instruments (scatterometers). The data fusion method is applied to a case study and the results quality is assessed. The results show the pertinence of data fusion for the mapping of wind energy resource offshore. (author)

Ground subsidence information as a valuable layer in GIS analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murdzek Radosław

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Among the technologies used to improve functioning of local governments the geographic information systems (GIS are widely used. GIS tools allow to simultaneously integrate spatial data resources, analyse them, process and use them to make strategic decisions. Nowadays GIS analysis is widely used in spatial planning or environmental protection. In these applications a number of spatial information are utilized, but rarely it is an information about environmental hazards. This paper includes information about ground subsidence that occurred in USCB mining area into GIS analysis. Monitoring of this phenomenon can be carried out using the radar differential interferometry (DInSAR method.

Ground subsidence information as a valuable layer in GIS analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Murdzek, Radosław; Malik, Hubert; Leśniak, Andrzej

2018-04-01

Among the technologies used to improve functioning of local governments the geographic information systems (GIS) are widely used. GIS tools allow to simultaneously integrate spatial data resources, analyse them, process and use them to make strategic decisions. Nowadays GIS analysis is widely used in spatial planning or environmental protection. In these applications a number of spatial information are utilized, but rarely it is an information about environmental hazards. This paper includes information about ground subsidence that occurred in USCB mining area into GIS analysis. Monitoring of this phenomenon can be carried out using the radar differential interferometry (DInSAR) method.

Wind Power Meteorology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundtang Petersen, Erik; Mortensen, Niels Gylling; Landberg, Lars

Wind power meteorology has evolved as an applied science, firmly founded on boundary-layer meteorology, but with strong links to climatology and geography. It concerns itself with three main areas: siting of wind turbines, regional wind resource assessment, and short-term prediction of the wind...... resource. The history, status and perspectives of wind power meteorology are presented, with emphasis on physical considerations and on its practical application. Following a global view of the wind resource, the elements of boundary layer meteorology which are most important for wind energy are reviewed......: wind profiles and shear, turbulence and gust, and extreme winds. The data used in wind power meteorology stem mainly from three sources: onsite wind measurements, the synoptic networks, and the re-analysis projects. Wind climate analysis, wind resource estimation and siting further require a detailed...

Estimating near-shore wind resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Floors, Rogier Ralph; Hahmann, Andrea N.; Peña, Alfredo

An evaluation and sensitivity study using the WRF mesoscale model to estimate the wind in a coastal area is performed using a unique data set consisting of scanning, profiling and floating lidars. The ability of the WRF model to represent the wind speed was evaluated by running the model for a four...... grid spacings were performed for each of the two schemes. An evaluation of the wind profile using vertical profilers revealed small differences in modelled mean wind speed between the different set-ups, with the YSU scheme predicting slightly higher mean wind speeds. Larger differences between...... the different simulations were observed when comparing the root-mean-square error (RMSE) between modelled and measured wind, with the ERA interim-based simulations having the lowest errors. The simulations with finer horizontal grid spacing had a larger MSE. Horizontal transects of mean wind speed across...

Stochastic Prediction of Wind Generating Resources Using the Enhanced Ensemble Model for Jeju Island’s Wind Farms in South Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deockho Kim

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Due to the intermittency of wind power generation, it is very hard to manage its system operation and planning. In order to incorporate higher wind power penetrations into power systems that maintain secure and economic power system operation, an accurate and efficient estimation of wind power outputs is needed. In this paper, we propose the stochastic prediction of wind generating resources using an enhanced ensemble model for Jeju Island’s wind farms in South Korea. When selecting the potential sites of wind farms, wind speed data at points of interest are not always available. We apply the Kriging method, which is one of spatial interpolation, to estimate wind speed at potential sites. We also consider a wind profile power law to correct wind speed along the turbine height and terrain characteristics. After that, we used estimated wind speed data to calculate wind power output and select the best wind farm sites using a Weibull distribution. Probability density function (PDF or cumulative density function (CDF is used to estimate the probability of wind speed. The wind speed data is classified along the manufacturer’s power curve data. Therefore, the probability of wind speed is also given in accordance with classified values. The average wind power output is estimated in the form of a confidence interval. The empirical data of meteorological towers from Jeju Island in Korea is used to interpolate the wind speed data spatially at potential sites. Finally, we propose the best wind farm site among the four potential wind farm sites.

Spatially Modeling the Impact of Terrain on Wind Speed and Dry Particle Deposition Across Lake Perris in Southern California to Determine In Situ Sensor Placement

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, A. N.

2014-12-01

While developed countries have implemented engineering techniques and sanitation technologies to keep water resources clean from runoff and ground contamination, air pollution and its contribution of harmful contaminants to our water resources has yet to be fully understood and managed. Due to the large spatial and temporal extent and subsequent computational intensity required to understand atmospheric deposition as a pollutant source, a geographic information system (GIS) was utilized. This project developed a multi-step workflow to better define the placement of in situ sensors on Lake Perris in Southern California. Utilizing a variety of technologies including ArcGIS 10.1 with 3D and Spatial Analyst extensions and WindNinja, the impact of terrain on wind speed and direction was simulated and the spatial distribution of contaminant deposition across Lake Perris was calculated as flux. Specifically, the flux of particulate matter (PM10) at the air - water interface of a lake surface was quantified by season for the year of 2009. Integrated Surface Hourly (ISH) wind speed and direction data and ground station air quality measurements from the California Air Resources Board were processed and integrated for use within ModelBuilder. Results indicate that surface areas nearest Alessandro Island and the dam of Lake Perris should be avoided when placing in situ sensors. Furthermore, the location of sensor placement is dependent on seasonal fluctuations of PM10 which can be modeled using the techniques used in this study.

Corollary discharge inhibition of wind-sensitive cercal giant interneurons in the singing field cricket

Science.gov (United States)

Hedwig, Berthold

2014-01-01

Crickets carry wind-sensitive mechanoreceptors on their cerci, which, in response to the airflow produced by approaching predators, triggers escape reactions via ascending giant interneurons (GIs). Males also activate their cercal system by air currents generated due to the wing movements underlying sound production. Singing males still respond to external wind stimulation, but are not startled by the self-generated airflow. To investigate how the nervous system discriminates sensory responses to self-generated and external airflow, we intracellularly recorded wind-sensitive afferents and ventral GIs of the cercal escape pathway in fictively singing crickets, a situation lacking any self-stimulation. GI spiking was reduced whenever cercal wind stimulation coincided with singing motor activity. The axonal terminals of cercal afferents showed no indication of presynaptic inhibition during singing. In two ventral GIs, however, a corollary discharge inhibition occurred strictly in phase with the singing motor pattern. Paired intracellular recordings revealed that this inhibition was not mediated by the activity of the previously identified corollary discharge interneuron (CDI) that rhythmically inhibits the auditory pathway during singing. Cercal wind stimulation, however, reduced the spike activity of this CDI by postsynaptic inhibition. Our study reveals how precisely timed corollary discharge inhibition of ventral GIs can prevent self-generated airflow from triggering inadvertent escape responses in singing crickets. The results indicate that the responsiveness of the auditory and wind-sensitive pathway is modulated by distinct CDIs in singing crickets and that the corollary discharge inhibition in the auditory pathway can be attenuated by cercal wind stimulation. PMID:25318763

COMPLEX MAPPING OF ENERGY RESOURCES FOR ALLOCATION OF SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY OBJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. A. Novakovskiy

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents developed methodology of solar and wind energy resources complex mapping at the regional level, taking into account the environmental and socio-economic factors affecting the placement of renewable energy facilities. Methodology provides a reasonable search and allocation of areas, the most promising for the placement of wind and solar power plants.

Climate change impacts on wind energy resources in northern Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pryor, S.C.; Barthelmie, R.J.; Kjellstroem, E.

2005-01-01

Energy is a fundamental human need. Heat, light and transport for individuals combined with the needs of industry have created a demand for energy which for the last 100-200 years has been met largely through consumption of fossil fuels leading to altered atmospheric composition and modification of the global climate. These effects will be realised on local scales affecting not just temperature and precipitation but also wind, radiation and other parameters. Annual mean wind speeds and wind energy density over northern Europe were significantly higher at the end of twentieth century than during the middle portion of that century, with the majority of the change being focused on the winter season. To address questions regarding possible future wind climates we employ dynamical and empirical downscaling techniques that seek to take coarse resolution output from General Circulation Models (GCM), run to provide scenarios of future climate, and develop higher resolution regional wind climates. Analyses of the wind climate during the historical record indicate that both the dynamical approach and the empirical approach are capable of generating accurate, robust and quantitative assessments of the wind climate and energy density in northern Europe, and hence that they may be of great utility to those seeking financing for, or risk management of, wind farms in the face of climate uncertainty. The synthesis of application of these downscaling tools to climate projections for northern Europe is that there is no evidence of major changes in the wind energy resource. However, more research is required to quantify the uncertainties in developing these projections and to reduce those uncertainties. Further work should also be conducted to assess the validity of these downscaling approaches in other geographical locations. (BA)

Characterization of Hybrid Systems for Rural Electrification with Renewable Energies Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borda Angel, J. P.; Dominguez, J.; Amador, J.; Arribas, L.; Pinedo Pascua, I.

2011-07-01

The objective of this project is to redefine the algorithm of wind-diesel hybrid system implemented in IntiGIS. This methodology was developed by CIEMAT for the evaluation of rural electrification projects, comparing different renewable and conventional technologies based on their LEC or equivalent electrification cost. The analysis considers the social and geographical particularities of the study area. The core of the new model is the definition of renewable fraction in the wind-diesel hybrid system. To this end, it was assumed that the fraction of renewable will depend, first of all, of the wind speed. In this case, the objectives were to find a relationship between the renewable fraction and wind speed, expressed as a function, and also trying to demonstrate the influence of other parameters such as fuel price and consumption. The methodology used to achieve these objectives was to use HOMER to simulate technology and size of system components in order to obtain the optimal fraction renewable scenarios. Next, we examined how it varied with wind speed; we assessed the influence of other parameters and, finally, it is represented as a function of wind speed. After the redefinition of the algorithm, the changes were planned for inclusion in IntiGIS and tests were performed to validate the new model. (Author)

Evaluation of heavy metals level (arsenic, nickel, mercury and lead effecting on health in drinking water resource of Kohgiluyeh county using geographic information system (GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdolazim Alinejad

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to determine the amount of heavy metals (Arsenic, Nickel, Mercury, and Lead in drinking water resource of Kohgiluyeh County using Geographic Information System (GIS. This cross-sectional study was conducted on drinking water resource of Kohgiluyeh County (33 water supplies and 4 heavy metals in 2013. 264 samples were analyzed in this study. The experiments were performed at the laboratory of Water and Wastewater Company based on Standard Method. The Atomic Adsorption was used to evaluate the amount of heavy metals. The results were mapping by Geographic Information System software (GIS 9.3 after processing of parameters. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS 16 and Excel 2007. The maximum amount of each heavy metal and its resource were shown as follow: Nickel or Ni (Source of w12, 124ppb, Arsenic or As (w33, 42 ppb, Mercury or Hg (w22 and w30, 96ppb, Lead or Pb (w21, 1553ppb. Also, the GIS maps showed that Lead in the central region was very high, Mercury and Arsenic in the northern region were high and Nickel in the eastern and western regions was high. The Kriging method and Gauss model were introduced as best method for interpolation of these metals. Since the concentration of these heavy metals was higher than standard levels in most drinking water supplies in Kohgiluyeh County and these high levels of heavy metals can cause the adverse effects on human health; therefore, the environmental and geological studies are necessary to identify the pollution resource and elimination and removal of heavy metals

Controllable and affordable utility-scale electricity from intermittent wind resources and compressed air energy storage (CAES)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cavallo, Alfred

2007-01-01

World wind energy resources are substantial, and in many areas, such as the US and northern Europe, could in theory supply all of the electricity demand. However, the remote or challenging location (i.e. offshore) and especially the intermittent character of the wind resources present formidable barriers to utilization on the scale required by a modern industrial economy. All of these technical challenges can be overcome. Long distance transmission is well understood, while offshore wind technology is being developed rapidly. Intermittent wind power can be transformed to a controllable power source with hybrid wind/compressed air energy storage (CAES) systems. The cost of electricity from such hybrid systems (including transmission) is affordable, and comparable to what users in some modern industrial economies already pay for electricity. This approach to intermittent energy integration has many advantages compared to the current strategy of forcing utilities to cope with supply uncertainty and transmission costs. Above all, it places intermittent wind on an equal technical footing with every other generation technology, including nuclear power, its most important long-term competitor

GIS-based Multi-Criteria Analysis of Wind Farm Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Henning Sten

2005-01-01

Due to the negative impact on the environment of traditional powergenerating methods, especially coal and oil-fired power stations wind power has increased in popularity. Achieving the goal set by the EU due to the implementation of the Kyoto protocol will require further expansion, and in order...... to facilitate this process around the Baltic Sea. A project – Wind Energy in the Baltic Sea Region - financed by EU / INTERREG III B was initiated in order to develop methods and tools to support spatial planning in relation to wind energy. The aim of the current study is to develop multi-criteria evaluations...

Developing wind energy in Ireland - consequences for our biodiversity and ecosystem services

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bourke, David; Stout, Jane

2011-07-01

Full text: In response to climate change, the EU has set a target to achieve 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020 (Directive 2009/28/EC). Consequently, Ireland has set targets of 40, 10 and 12% of energy coming from renewable sources for electricity, transport and heat, respectively, by 2020. Wind energy is expected to contribute significantly to achieving these targets given Ireland.s large onshore and offshore wind potential. However, the potential impacts of these wind farm developments on Ireland.s biodiversity remain largely un quantified. The SIMBIOSYS (www.SIMBIOSYS.ie) project was set up to investigate the impacts of a range of sectors on biodiversity and ecosystem services, with part of the project.s focus on those measures that may help mitigate the effects of climate change. In this paper we aim to assess the potential positive and negative impacts of wind farms on Ireland.s marine and terrestrial biodiversity, highlighting potential conflicts concerning the spatial distribution of our wind and biodiversity resources. To help make these assessments an extensive review of the national and international scientific literature is used to highlight the potential positive and negative impacts of wind farm developments on biodiversity to date. Using GIS, spatial analyses are then used to quantify the extent to which wind resources and current and future wind farm developments overlap with biodiversity, using indicators such as Natura 2000 sites and Red Data List Plants. The outputs of these analyses are combined to help make recommendations on the sustainable future planning and management of wind farms in Ireland. Appropriate impact assessment and careful spatial planning will help ensure the direct benefits of green house gas emission reduction are maximised without compromising the protection of biodiversity in Ireland. (Author)

Demand side resource operation on the Irish power system with high wind power penetration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Keane, A.; Tuohy, A.; Meibom, Peter

2011-01-01

part of the power system plant mix and contribute to the flexible operation of a power system. A model for demand side resources is proposed here that captures its key characteristics for commitment and dispatch calculations. The model is tested on the all island Irish power system, and the operation...... of the functions of conventional peaking plant. Demand side resources are also shown to be capable of improving the reliability of the system, with reserve capability identified as a key requirement in this respect....... of the model is simulated over one year in both a stochastic and deterministic mode, to illustrate the impact of wind and load uncertainty. The results illustrate that demand side resources can contribute to the efficient, flexible operation of systems with high penetrations of wind by replacing some...

Cowichan Valley energy mapping and modelling. Report 1 - GIS mapping of potential renewable energy resources in the CVRD. Final report. [Vancouver Island, Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-06-15

The driving force behind the Integrated Energy Mapping and Analysis project was the identification and analysis of a suite of pathways that the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) can utilise to increase its energy resilience, as well as reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions, with a primary focus on the residential sector. Mapping and analysis undertaken will support provincial energy and GHG reduction targets, and the suite of pathways outlined will address a CVRD internal target that calls for 75% of the region's energy within the residential sector to come from locally sourced renewables by 2050. The target has been developed as a mechanism to meet resilience and climate action target. The maps and findings produced are to be integrated as part of a regional policy framework currently under development. The first task in the project was the production of a series of thematic GIS maps and associated databases of potential renewable energy resources in the CVRD. The renewable energy sources mapped were solar, wind, micro hydro, and biomass (residues and waste). Other sources were also discussed (e.g. geothermal heat) but not mapped due to lack of spatially explicit input data. The task 1 findings are detailed in this report. (LN)

A Transmission-Cost-Based Model to Estimate the Amount of Market-Integrable Wind Resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morales González, Juan Miguel; Pinson, Pierre; Madsen, Henrik

2012-01-01

are made to share the expenses in transmission derived from their integration, they may see the doors of electricity markets closed for not being competitive enough. This paper presents a model to decide the amount of wind resources that are economically exploitable at a given location from a transmission......In the pursuit of the large-scale integration of wind power production, it is imperative to evaluate plausible frictions among the stochastic nature of wind generation, electricity markets, and the investments in transmission required to accommodate larger amounts of wind. If wind producers......-cost perspective. This model accounts for the uncertain character of wind by using a modeling framework based on stochastic optimization, simulates market barriers by means of a bi-level structure, and considers the financial risk of investments in transmission through the conditional value-at-risk. The major...

Use of ArcGIS in Environmental Monitoring at Idaho National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oertel, Giles

2007-01-01

The Idaho National Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy site located in southeastern Idaho. The INL is required to perform environmental monitoring of anthropogenically introduced contaminants. One primary contaminant of interest is radioactive Cs-137 which is resident in INL soils due to past operational activities and atmospheric weapons testing. Collection of field data is performed using vehicle mounted and portable radiation detector units. All data is combined in ArcGIS and displayed over georeferenced satellite images and digital elevation models. The use of the ArcGIS geostatistical analysis package enhances the ability to look for areas of higher Cs-137 concentration. Combining current monitoring results with meteorological wind pattern maps allows for siting of new and improved monitoring locations. Use of the ArcGIS package provides an integrated analysis and mapping protocol for use in radioactive contaminant monitoring

The influence of waves on the offshore wind resource

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lange, B [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark); Hoejstrup, J [NEG Micon, Randers (Denmark)

1999-03-01

With the growing interest in offshore wind resources, it has become increasingly important to establish and refine models for the interaction between wind and waves in order to obtain accurate models for the sea surface roughness. The simple Charnock relation that has been applied for open sea conditions does not work well in the shallow water near-coastal areas that are important for offshore wind energy. A model for the surface roughness of the sea has been developed based on this concept, using an expression for the Charnock constant as a function of wave age, and then relating the wave `age` to the distance to the nearest upwind coastline. The data used in developing these models originated partly from analysis of data from the Vindeby site, partly from previously published results. The scatter in the data material was considerable and consequently there is a need to test these models further by analysing data from sites exhibiting varying distances to the coast. Results from such analysis of recent data are presented for sites with distances to the coast varying from 10 km to several hundreds of km. The model shows a good agreement also with this data. (au)

Sustainable Site Selection for Offshore Wind Farms in the South Aegean—Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimitra G. Vagiona

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The present research study develops and implements an integrated methodology for the evaluation and prioritization of appropriate sites for sustainable offshore wind-farm development at a regional level. The methodological framework includes the application of several siting criteria (technical, spatial, economic, social and environmental proposed either by the national legislative framework (Specific Plan for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development for Renewable Energy or the international literature with the combined use of geographic information systems (GIS and multi-criteria decision methods, namely the analytical hierarchy process (AHP and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS. The whole methodology provides a decision-making process for offshore wind-farm planning at regional level. The proposed methodology and the outputs of this work can be used to ensure the sustainable spatial development and policy of renewable energy resources.

Climate change implications for wind power resources in the Northwest United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sailor, David J.; Smith, Michael; Hart, Melissa

2008-01-01

Using statistically downscaled output from four general circulation models (GCMs), we have investigated scenarios of climate change impacts on wind power generation potential in a five-state region within the Northwest United States (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming). All GCM simulations were extracted from the standardized set of runs created for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Analysis of model runs for the 20th century (20c3m) simulations revealed that the direct output of wind statistics from these models is of relatively poor quality compared with observations at airport weather stations within each state. When the GCM output was statistically downscaled, the resulting estimates of current climate wind statistics are substantially better. Furthermore, in looking at the GCM wind statistics for two IPCC future climate scenarios from the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES A1B and A2), there was significant disagreement in the direct model output from the four GCMs. When statistical downscaling was applied to the future climate simulations, a more coherent story unfolded related to the likely impact of climate change on the region's wind power resource. Specifically, the results suggest that summertime wind speeds in the Northwest may decrease by 5-10%, while wintertime wind speeds may decrease by relatively little, or possibly increase slightly. When these wind statistics are projected to typical turbine hub heights and nominal wind turbine power curves are applied, the impact of the climate change scenarios on wind power may be as high as a 40% reduction in summertime generation potential. (author)

A pan-European quantitative assessment of soil loss by wind

Science.gov (United States)

Borrelli, Pasqualle; Lugato, Emanuele; Panagos, Panos

2016-04-01

Soil erosion by wind is a serious environmental problem often low perceived but resulting in severe soil degradation forms. On the long-term a considerable part of topsoil - rich in nutrient and organic matters - could be removed compromising the agricultural productivity and inducing an increased use of fertilizers. Field scale studies and observations proven that wind erosion is a serious problem in many European sites. The state-of-the-art suggests a scenario where wind erosion locally affects the temperate climate areas of the northern European countries, as well as the semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean region. However, observations, field measurements and modelling assessments are extremely limited and unequally distributed across Europe. It implies a lack of knowledge about where and when wind erosion occurs, limiting policy actions aimed at mitigating land degradation. To gain a better understanding about soil degradation process, the Soil Resource Assessment working group of the Joint Research Centre carried out the first pan-European assessments of wind-erodible fraction of soil (EF) (Geoderma, 232, 471-478, 2014) and land susceptibility to wind erosion (Land Degradation & Development, DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2318). Today's challenge is to integrate the insights archived by these pan-European assessments, local experiments and field-scale models into a new generation of regional-scale wind erosion models. A GIS version of the Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) was developed with the aim to i) move a step forward into the aforementioned challenges, and ii) evaluate the soil loss potential due to wind erosion in the agricoltural land of the EU. The model scheme was designed to describe daily soil loss potential, combining spatiotemporal conditions of soil erodibility, crust factor, soil moisture content, vegetation coverage and wind erosivity at 1 km2 resolution. The average soil loss predicted by GIS-RWEQ in the EU arable land ranges from 0 to 39.9 Mg ha-1 yr

Impacts of climate change on wind energy resources in France: a regionalization study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Najac, J.

2008-11-01

In this work, we study the impact of climate change on surface winds in France and draw conclusions concerning wind energy resources. Because of their coarse spatial resolution, climate models cannot properly reproduce the spatial variability of surface winds. Thus, 2 down-scaling methods are developed in order to regionalize an ensemble of climate scenarios: a statistical method based on weather typing and a statistic-dynamical method that resorts to high resolution mesoscale modelling. By 2050, significant but relatively small changes are depicted with, in particular, a decrease of the wind speed in the southern and an increase in the northern regions of France. The use of other down-scaling methods enables us to study several uncertainty sources: it appears that most of the uncertainty is due to the climate models. (author)

GIS WORK GROUP: AN OVERVIEW (INCLUDES GIS-QA AND AUDITING GIS DATABASE SYSTEMS)

Science.gov (United States)

In order to promote cooperation in the implementation of GIS in regional offices, a GIS Regional Workgroup was established by the ten Regions in 1989. Since that time the GIS Work Group evolved and now consists of members from each of the ten EPA Regional Offices, the Office of A...

77 FR 2286 - Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-17

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. EL11-44-000] Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North America LLC, Horizon Wind Energy LLC v. Bonneville Power Administration; Notice of Designation of Certain Commission Personnel as...

Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy Resources for the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwartz, M.; Heimiller, D.; Haymes, S.; Musial, W.

2010-06-01

This report summarizes the offshore wind resource potential for the contiguous United States and Hawaii as of May 2009. The development of this assessment has evolved over multiple stages as new regional meso-scale assessments became available, new validation data was obtained, and better modeling capabilities were implemented. It is expected that further updates to the current assessment will be made in future reports.

Grid Integration of Offshore Wind | Wind | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Much can be learned from the existing land-based integration research for handling the variability and uncertainty of the wind resource Arklow Bank offshore wind park consists of seven GE Wind 3.6-MW wind turbines. Integration and

ASSESSING SPATIAL DATA QUALITY OF PARTICIPATORY GIS STUDIES: A CASE STUDY IN CAPE TOWN

OpenAIRE

K. Musungu

2015-01-01

Participatory GIS (PGIS) has been prescribed by scholars who sought to find a means to enable more equitable access to GIS data, diversifying the types of knowledge captured by a GIS and re-engineering GIS software. The popularity of PGIS is evident in the various studies and contexts in which it has been utilised. These include studies in risk assessment, land administration, resource management, crime mapping and urban design to mention but a few. Despite the popularity of PGIS as a body of...

Analysis of the balancing of the wind and solar energy resources in Andalusia (Southern Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Santos-Alamillos, F. J.; Pozo-Vazquez, D.; Lara-Fanego, V.; Ruiz-Arias, J. A.; Hernandez-Alvaro, J.; Tova-Pescador, J.

2010-09-01

A higher penetration of the renewable energy in the electric system in the future will be conditioned to a reduction of the uncertainty of the yield. A way to obtain this goal is to analyze the balancing between the productions of different sources of renewable energy, trying to combine these productions. In this work we analyze, from a meteorological point of view, the balancing between wind and solar energy resources in Andalusia (southern Iberian Peninsula). To this end, wind speed and global radiation data corresponding to an one year integration of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model were analyzed. Two method of analysis were used: a point correlation analysis and a Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). Results from these analyses allow obtaining, eventually, areas of local and distributed balancing between the wind and solar energy resources. The analysis was carried out separately for the different seasons of the year. Results showed, overall, a considerable balancing effect between the wind and solar resources in the mountain areas of the interior of the region, along the coast of the central part of the region and, specially, in the coastal area near the Gibraltar strait. Nevertheless, considerable differences were found between the seasons of the year, which may lead to compensating effects. Autumn proved to be the season with the most significant results.

Wind energy: Overcoming inadequate wind and modeling uncertainties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kane, Vivek

2010-09-15

'Green Energy' is the call of the day, and significance of Wind Energy can never be overemphasized. But the key question here is - What if the wind resources are inadequate? Studies reveal that the probability of finding favorable wind at a given place on land is only 15%. Moreover, there are inherent uncertainties associated with wind business. Can we overcome inadequate wind resources? Can we scientifically quantify uncertainty and model it to make business sense? This paper proposes a solution, by way of break-through Wind Technologies, combined with advanced tools for Financial Modeling, enabling vital business decisions.

Growth curves and sustained commissioning modelling of renewable energy: Investigating resource constraints for wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidsson, Simon; Grandell, Leena; Wachtmeister, Henrik; Höök, Mikael

2014-01-01

Several recent studies have proposed fast transitions to energy systems based on renewable energy technology. Many of them dismiss potential physical constraints and issues with natural resource supply, and do not consider the growth rates of the individual technologies needed or how the energy systems are to be sustained over longer time frames. A case study is presented modelling potential growth rates of the wind energy required to reach installed capacities proposed in other studies, taking into account the expected service life of wind turbines. A sustained commissioning model is proposed as a theoretical foundation for analysing reasonable growth patterns for technologies that can be sustained in the future. The annual installation and related resource requirements to reach proposed wind capacity are quantified and it is concluded that these factors should be considered when assessing the feasibility, and even the sustainability, of fast energy transitions. Even a sustained commissioning scenario would require significant resource flows, for the transition as well as for sustaining the system, indefinitely. Recent studies that claim there are no potential natural resource barriers or other physical constraints to fast transitions to renewable energy appear inadequate in ruling out these concerns. - Highlights: • Growth rates and service life is important when evaluating energy transitions. • A sustained commissioning model is suggested for analysing renewable energy. • Natural resource requirements for renewable energy are connected to growth rates. • Arguments by recent studies ruling out physical constraints appear inadequate

A 100% renewable electricity generation system for New Zealand utilising hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mason, I.G.; Page, S.C.; Williamson, A.G.

2010-01-01

The New Zealand electricity generation system is dominated by hydro generation at approximately 60% of installed capacity between 2005 and 2007, augmented with approximately 32% fossil-fuelled generation, plus minor contributions from geothermal, wind and biomass resources. In order to explore the potential for a 100% renewable electricity generation system with substantially increased levels of wind penetration, fossil-fuelled electricity production was removed from an historic 3-year data set, and replaced by modelled electricity production from wind, geothermal and additional peaking options. Generation mixes comprising 53-60% hydro, 22-25% wind, 12-14% geothermal, 1% biomass and 0-12% additional peaking generation were found to be feasible on an energy and power basis, whilst maintaining net hydro storage. Wind capacity credits ranged from 47% to 105% depending upon the incorporation of demand management, and the manner of operation of the hydro system. Wind spillage was minimised, however, a degree of residual spillage was considered to be an inevitable part of incorporating non-dispatchable generation into a stand-alone grid system. Load shifting was shown to have considerable advantages over installation of new peaking plant. Application of the approach applied in this research to countries with different energy resource mixes is discussed, and options for further research are outlined.

Temporal and spatial complementarity of wind and solar resources in Lower Silesia (Poland)

Science.gov (United States)

Jurasz, Jakub; Wdowikowski, Marcin; Kaźmierczak, Bartosz; Dąbek, Paweł

2017-11-01

This paper investigates the concept of temporal and spatial complementarity of wind and solar resources in Lower Silesia (south-wester Poland). For the purpose of our research we have used hourly load and energy yield from photovoltaics and wind turbines covering period 2010-2014. In order to assess the spatial complementarity we have divided the considered voivodeship into 74 squared regions with maximal area of 400 km2. The obtained results indicate an existence of temporal complementarity on a monthly time scale and a positive correlation between load and wind generation patterns (also on a monthly time scale). The temporal complementarity for hourly time series in relatively low but has potential to smooth the energy generation curves.

Demand side resource operation on the Irish power system with high wind power penetration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keane, A.; Tuohy, A.; Meibom, P.; Denny, E.; Flynn, D.; Mullane, A.; O'Malley, M.

2011-01-01

The utilisation of demand side resources is set to increase over the coming years with the advent of advanced metering infrastructure, home area networks and the promotion of increased energy efficiency. Demand side resources are proposed as an energy resource that, through aggregation, can form part of the power system plant mix and contribute to the flexible operation of a power system. A model for demand side resources is proposed here that captures its key characteristics for commitment and dispatch calculations. The model is tested on the all island Irish power system, and the operation of the model is simulated over one year in both a stochastic and deterministic mode, to illustrate the impact of wind and load uncertainty. The results illustrate that demand side resources can contribute to the efficient, flexible operation of systems with high penetrations of wind by replacing some of the functions of conventional peaking plant. Demand side resources are also shown to be capable of improving the reliability of the system, with reserve capability identified as a key requirement in this respect. - Highlights: → Demand side resource model presented for use in unit commitment and dispatch calculations. → Benefits of demand side aggregation demonstrated specifically as a peaking unit and provider of reserve. → Potential to displace or defer construction of conventional peaking units.

Evaluation of MEDALUS model for desertification hazard zonation using GIS; study area: Iyzad Khast plain, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Farajzadeh, Manuchehr; Egbal, Mahbobeh Nik

2007-08-15

In this study, the MEDALUS model along with GIS mapping techniques are used to determine desertification hazards for a province of Iran to determine the desertification hazard. After creating a desertification database including 20 parameters, the first steps consisted of developing maps of four indices for the MEDALUS model including climate, soil, vegetation and land use were prepared. Since these parameters have mostly been presented for the Mediterranean region in the past, the next step included the addition of other indicators such as ground water and wind erosion. Then all of the layers weighted by environmental conditions present in the area were used (following the same MEDALUS framework) before a desertification map was prepared. The comparison of two maps based on the original and modified MEDALUS models indicates that the addition of more regionally-specific parameters into the model allows for a more accurate representation of desertification processes across the Iyzad Khast plain. The major factors affecting desertification in the area are climate, wind erosion and low land quality management, vegetation degradation and the salinization of soil and water resources.

Offshore wind resources at Danish measurement sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barthelmie, R J; Courtney, M S; Lange, B; Nielsen, M; Sempreviva, A M [Risoe National Lab., Dept. of Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics, Roskilde (Denmark); Svenson, J; Olsen, F [SEAS, Haslev (Denmark); Christensen, T [Elsamprojekt, Fredericia (Denmark)

1999-03-01

In order to characterise wind and turbulence characteristics at prospective offshore wind energy sites, meteorological observations from a number of purpose-built offshore monitoring sites have been analyzed and compared with long wind speed time series. New analyses have been conducted on the data sets focussing on meteorology, turbulence, extreme winds and wind and wave interactions. Relationships between wind speed, turbulence and fetch are highly complex. Minimum turbulence intensity offshore is associated with wind speeds of about 12 m/s. At lower wind speeds, stability effects are important while at higher winds speeds wind and wave interactions appear to dominate. On average, turbulence intensity offshore at 48 m height is approximately 0.08 if no coastal effects are present. However, the effect of the coastal discontinuity persists in wind speed and turbulence characteristics for considerable distances offshore. The majority of the adjustment of appears to occur within 20 km of the coast. (au)

Combined wind, hydropower and photovoltaic systems for generation of electric power and control of water resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abid, M.; Karimov, K.S.; Akhmedov, K.M.

2011-01-01

In this paper the present day energy consumption and potentialities of utilization of wind- and hydropower resources in some Central and Southern Asian Republics, in particular, in the Republic of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan are presented. The maximum consumption of electric power is observed in winter time when hydropower is the minimum, but wind power is the maximum. At the same time water is needed mostly in summer time for irrigation and in winter time for generation of electric power. This results in conflicts between countries that utilize water mostly for irrigation and those which use water for generation of electric power. It is proposed that the utilization of water with the supplement of wind and solar energy will facilitate the proper and efficient management of water resources in Central Asia. In the future in Tajikistan, wind power systems with a capacity of 30-100 MW and more will be installed, providing power balance of the country in winter; hence saving water in reservoirs, especially in drought years. This will provide the integration of electricity generated by wind, hydroelectric power and photovoltaic system in the unified energy system of the country. (author)

SAT-WIND project. Final report[Winds from satellites for offshore and coastal wind energy mapping and wind-indexing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hasager, C.B.; Astrup, P.; Nielsen, M. (and others)

2007-04-15

The SAT-WIND project 'Winds from satellites for offshore and coastal wind energy mapping and wind-indexing' was a research project funded by STVF/DSF in the years 2003 to 2006 (Sagsnr. 2058-03-0006). The goal of the project was to verify the applicability of satellite wind maps derived from passive microwave, altimeter, scatterometer and imaging Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technologies for wind energy tools for wind resources and wind-indexing. The study area was the Danish Seas including the North Sea, interior seas and the Baltic Sea. The report describes technical details on the satellite data sources including: 1) passive microwave (SSM/I, AMSR-E), 2) passive microwave polarimetric (WindSat), 3) scatterometer (ERS, QuikSCAT, Midori-2 and NSCAT), 4) altimeter (ERS, Topex, Poseidon, GFO-1, Jason-1), 5) SAR (ERS, Envisat). The SAR wind maps were treated in S-WAsP developed by Risoe National Laboratory in cooperation with GRAS A/S in the innovative project SAT-WIND-SMV (Sagsnr. 2104-05-0084) in the years 2005 and 2006 in parallel with SAT-WIND. The results from the SAT-WIND project are presented. These include ocean wind statistics, offshore wind resource estimates and comparison results for wind-indexing. (au)

SAT-WIND project. Final report[Winds from satellites for offshore and coastal wind energy mapping and wind-indexing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hasager, C B; Astrup, P; Nielsen, M [and others

2007-04-15

The SAT-WIND project 'Winds from satellites for offshore and coastal wind energy mapping and wind-indexing' was a research project funded by STVF/DSF in the years 2003 to 2006 (Sagsnr. 2058-03-0006). The goal of the project was to verify the applicability of satellite wind maps derived from passive microwave, altimeter, scatterometer and imaging Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technologies for wind energy tools for wind resources and wind-indexing. The study area was the Danish Seas including the North Sea, interior seas and the Baltic Sea. The report describes technical details on the satellite data sources including: 1) passive microwave (SSM/I, AMSR-E), 2) passive microwave polarimetric (WindSat), 3) scatterometer (ERS, QuikSCAT, Midori-2 and NSCAT), 4) altimeter (ERS, Topex, Poseidon, GFO-1, Jason-1), 5) SAR (ERS, Envisat). The SAR wind maps were treated in S-WAsP developed by Risoe National Laboratory in cooperation with GRAS A/S in the innovative project SAT-WIND-SMV (Sagsnr. 2104-05-0084) in the years 2005 and 2006 in parallel with SAT-WIND. The results from the SAT-WIND project are presented. These include ocean wind statistics, offshore wind resource estimates and comparison results for wind-indexing. (au)

Wind resource assessment handbook: Fundamentals for conducting a successful monitoring program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailey, B.H.; McDonald, S.L.; Bernadett, D.W.; Markus, M.J.; Elsholz, K.V.

1997-01-01

This handbook presents industry-accepted guidelines for planning and conducting a wind resource measurement program to support a wind energy feasibility initiative. These guidelines, which are detailed and highly technical, emphasize the tasks of selecting, installing, and operating wind measurement equipment, as well as collecting and analyzing the associated data, once one or more measurement sites are located. The handbook's scope encompasses state-of-the-art measurement and analysis techniques at multiple heights on tall towers (e.g., 40 m) for a measurement duration of at least one year. These guidelines do not represent every possible method of conducting a quality wind measurement program, but they address the most important elements based on field-proven experience. The intended audience for this handbook is any organization or individual who desires the planning framework and detailed procedures for conducting a formally structured wind measurement program. Personnel from the management level to field technicians will find this material applicable. The organizational aspects of a measurement program, including the setting of clear program objectives and designing commensurate measurement and quality assurance plans, all of which are essential to ensuring the program's successful outcome, are emphasized. Considerable attention is also given to the details of actually conducting the measurement program in its many aspects, from selecting instrumentation that meets minimum performance standards to analyzing and reporting on the collected data. 5 figs., 15 tabs

U.S. Department of Energy Regional Resource Centers Report: State of the Wind Industry in the Regions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baranowski, Ruth [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United St; Oteri, Frank [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United St; Baring-Gould, Ian [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United St; Tegen, Suzanne [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United St

2016-03-01

The wind industry and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are addressing technical challenges to increasing wind energy's contribution to the national grid (such as reducing turbine costs and increasing energy production and reliability), and they recognize that public acceptance issues can be challenges for wind energy deployment. Wind project development decisions are best made using unbiased information about the benefits and impacts of wind energy. In 2014, DOE established six wind Regional Resource Centers (RRCs) to provide information about wind energy, focusing on regional qualities. This document summarizes the status and drivers for U.S. wind energy development on regional and state levels. It is intended to be a companion to DOE's 2014 Distributed Wind Market Report, 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report, and 2014 Offshore Wind Market and Economic Analysis that provide assessments of the national wind markets for each of these technologies.

GIS based Hydrogeological Vulnerability Mapping of Groundwater Resources in Jerash Area-Jordan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hammouri, N [Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Hashemite University, Zarqa (Jordan); El-Naqa, A [Department of Water Management and Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Hashemite University, Zarqa (Jordan)

2008-04-15

This paper presents groundwater vulnerability mapping for Jerash area, north Jordan generated using EPIK and DRASTIC models. These models have been implemented using GIS to delineate groundwater protection zones and to suggest a protection plan to improve groundwater quality of the major springs and wells. Most of the groundwater resources in the study area are polluted and bacteria and nitrate levels are high. Different sources of groundwater pollution have been identified. Domestic wastewater is considered as a major source of pollution. Urban runoff, fertilizers from agricultural return flows and solid waste disposal appear to be secondary sources. The most relevant vulnerability class of EPIK map is very high which accounts for about 41 % of the total area. While in the DRASTIC vulnerability map, areas with high vulnerability were only about 23 % of the total area. There is a good correlation between vulnerability maps obtained from both models with microbiological and chemical pollution evidences. There is also a good agreement between the areas classified as highly vulnerable and those that have high levels of pollution. [Spanish] El estudio de vulnerabilidad de aguas subterraneas en la region de Yerash, Jordania fue obtenido mediante las metodologias de EPIK y DRASTIC. Se uso GIS para mapear las zonas protegidas y para sugerir un plan de proteccion para mejorar la calidad del agua subterranea en los principales manantiales y pozos. Los niveles de contaminacion bacteriana y de nitratos son elevados. El efluente domestico es la fuente mas importante de contaminacion; vienen en segundo lugar la precipitacion en zonas urbanas, los fertilizantes agricolas y los desechos solidos. En el mapa de EPIK, la vulnerabilidad extrema abarca hasta 41% del area total; en cambio, en el mapa de DRASTIC las areas de alta vulnerabilidad ocupan solo un 23% del area. La correlacion de los datos de contaminacion microbiana y quimica con ambos mapas der vulnerabilidad es buena

Task 2 Report - A GIS-Based Technical Potential Assessment of Domestic Energy Resources for Electricity Generation.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Nathan [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Grue, Nicholas W [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Rosenlieb, Evan [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2018-03-14

The purpose of this report is to support the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines in assessing the technical potential of domestic energy resources for utility scale electricity generation in the Lao PDR. Specifically, this work provides assessments of technical potential, and associated maps of developable areas, for energy technologies of interest. This report details the methodology, assumptions, and datasets employed in this analysis to provide a transparent, replicable process for future analyses. The methodology and results presented are intended to be a fundamental input to subsequent decision making and energy planning-related analyses. This work concentrates on domestic energy resources for utility-scale electricity generation and considers solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass, and coal resources. This work does not consider potentially imported energy resources (e.g., natural gas) or domestic energy resources that are not present in sufficient quantity for utility-scale generation (e.g., geothermal resources). A technical potential assessment of hydropower resources is currently not feasible due to the absence of required data including site-level assessments of multiple characteristics (e.g., geology environment and access) as well as spatial data on estimated non-exploited hydropower resources. This report is the second output of the Energy Alternatives Study for the Lao PDR, a collaboration led by the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines and the United States Agency for International Development under the auspices of the Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong program. The Energy Alternatives Study is composed of five successive tasks that collectively support the project's goals. This work is focused on Task 2 - Assess technical potential of domestic energy resources for electricity generation. The work was carried out by a team from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with the Lao Ministry of Energy

Management of moderate wind energy coastal resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karamanis, D.

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → Life cycle analysis reveals the viability of moderate wind fields utilization. → Wind turbine is the greenest electricity generator at a touristic site. → Wind parks should be collective applications of small hotel-apartments owners. -- Abstract: The feasibility of wind energy utilization at moderate wind fields was investigated for a typical touristic coastal site in Western Greece. Initially, the wind speed and direction as well as its availability, duration and diurnal variation were assessed. For an analysis period of eight years, the mean wind speed at ten meters was determined as 3.8 m s -1 with a small variation in monthly average wind speeds between 3.0 (January) and 4.4 m s -1 (October). The mean wind power density was less than 200 W m -2 at 10 m indicating the limiting suitability of the site for the usual renewable energy applications. However, life cycle analysis for wind turbine generators with lower cut-in, cut-out, and rated speeds revealed that the energy yield ratio can reach a value of six for a service life of 20 years while the energy pay-back period can be 3 years with 33 kt CO 2 -e of avoided greenhouse emissions. Therefore, the recent technological turbine improvements make wind power viable even at moderate wind fields. Moreover, the study of electricity supply of typical small hotel-apartments in the region of Western Greece indicated that the installation of 300 wind turbine generators in these moderate wind fields would cover the total consumption during the open touristic period with profits during the rest of the year. According to these results, wind turbine generators are the 'greenest' way of generating electricity in touristic coastal sites, even of moderate wind speeds.

新疆森林资源动态分析%Dynamic analysis and evaluation of Xinjiang forest resources: based on RS and GIS

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

李虎; 王晓峰; 陈蜀疆

2005-01-01

The forest resources in Xinjiang were surveyed and analyzed based on RS and GIS. Satellite data interpretation was adopted to obtain the general situation of Xinjiang forest resources in assistance with the sampling method and on-the-spot investigations. Based on GIS, related data obtained from satellite remote sensing in 1996 and 2001 were studied through contrastive analysis. Moreover, the dynamic variation of Xinjiang forest resources was studied in an all-around way. In the past five years,the areas of the forestland, woodland, sparse woodland, nursery garden and the land usable for forestry in Xinjiang kept growing, moreover, the forest cover rate and the total standing stock volume increased correspondingly, showing that the wooded area and the amount of growing stock in Xinjiang were increasing. The forestland area in Xinjiang went up to 17,837 km2 from 17,331 km2, with an annual average increase of 101 km2. Accordingly, the forest vegetation came to 1.08% from 1.05%, up 0.03percentage point; the total standing stock volume went up to 289,985,200 m3 from 262,416,000 m3, a total increase of 27,569,200 m3, an annual average increase of 5,514,000 m3 and an annual average net growth rate of 2.00%. The analysis results showed that the forest resources in Xinjiang were increasing on the whole, however, there remained some problems, such as the sparse natural forests, low forest cover rate, imbalanced wood age structure, and mono tree species composition, etc.

GEO/SQL in water resource manegement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrej Vidmar

1992-12-01

Full Text Available The development of water resource management concepts shouis the problem of collecting, combining, and using alphanumerical and graphical spatial data. The solution of this problem lies in the use of geographic information systems - GIS. This paper describes the usefulness of GIS programming tool Geo/SQL in water resources management.

A Joint Evaluation of the Wind and Wave Energy Resources Close to the Greek Islands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Ganea

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work is to analyze the wind and wave energy potential in the proximity of the Greek islands. Thus, by evaluating the synergy between wind and waves, a more comprehensive picture of the renewable energy resources in the target area is provided. In this study, two different data sources are considered. The first data set is provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF through the ERA-Interim project and covers an 11-year period, while the second data set is Archiving, Validation and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic data (AVISO and covers six years of information. Using these data, parameters such as wind speed, significant wave height (SWH and mean wave period (MWP are analyzed. The following marine areas are targeted: Ionian Sea, Aegean Sea, Sea of Crete, Libyan Sea and Levantine Sea, near the coastal environment of the Greek islands. Initially, 26 reference points were considered. For a more detailed analysis, the number of reference points was narrowed down to 10 that were considered more relevant. Since in the island environments the resources are in general rather limited, the proposed work provides some outcomes concerning the wind and wave energy potential and the synergy between these two natural resources in the vicinity of the Greek islands. From the analysis performed, it can be noticed that the most energetic wind conditions are encountered west of Cios Island, followed by the regions east of Tinos and northeast of Crete. In these locations, the annual average values of the wind power density (Pwind are in the range of 286–298.6 W/m2. Regarding the wave power density (Pwave, the most energetic locations can be found in the vicinity of Crete, north, south and southeast of the island. There, the wave energy potential is in the range of 2.88–2.99 kW/m.

Multimodale trafiknet i GIS (Multimodal Traffic Network in GIS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kronbak, Jacob; Brems, Camilla Riff

1996-01-01

The report introduces the use of multi-modal traffic networks within a geographical Information System (GIS). The necessary theory of modelling multi-modal traffic network is reviewed and applied to the ARC/INFO GIS by an explorative example.......The report introduces the use of multi-modal traffic networks within a geographical Information System (GIS). The necessary theory of modelling multi-modal traffic network is reviewed and applied to the ARC/INFO GIS by an explorative example....

78 FR 15718 - Iberdrola Renewables, Inc. PacifiCorp NextEra Energy Resources, LLC Invenergy Wind North America...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-12

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. EL11-44-006] Iberdrola Renewables, Inc. PacifiCorp NextEra Energy Resources, LLC Invenergy Wind North America LLC Horizon Wind Energy LLC v. Bonneville Power Administration; Notice of Filing Take notice that on March 1, 2013...

GIS4schools: a new approach in GIS education

Science.gov (United States)

Demharter, Timo; Michel, Ulrich

2012-10-01

From a didactic point of view the procurement and the application of modern geographical methods and functions become more and more important. Although the integration of GIS in the classroom is repeatedly demanded, inter alia in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the number of GIS users is small in comparison to other European countries or the USA. Possible reasons for this could, for instance, lie in the lack of GIS and computer knowledge of the teachers themselves and the subsequent extensive training effort in Desktop-GIS (KERSKI 2000, SCHLEICHER 2004). Today you have the technological possibilities to provide the broad public with geoinformation and geotechnology: Web technologies offer access to web-based, mobile and local applications through simple gateways. The objective of the project "GIS4schools" is to generate a service-based infrastructure, which can be operated via mobile clients as well as via Desktop-GIS or a Browser. Due to the easy availability of the services the focus is in particular on students. This circumstance is a novelty through which a differentiated approach to the implementation of GIS in schools is established. Accordingly, the pilot nature of this project becomes apparent as well as its greater importance beyond its actual content especially for the sector of media development at colleges of education. The continuity from Web-GIS to Desktop-GIS is innovative: The goal is to create an adapted multi-level solution which allows both, an easy introduction if desired or a detailed analysis - either to be achieved with a focus especially on students and their cooperation among one another.

Assessment of wind resources and annual energy production of wind farms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

the last 17 years. In Denmark the plan is to increase to 50% share of total electricity consumption in 2020 compared to 26% in 2011. In EU this was 6.3% in 2011. In EU new installed wind power was 9 GW and 0.8 GW, onshore and offshore, respectively, in 2011. The total capacity in Europe is 96 GW......Wind energy provides a significant share of EU’s renewable energy source. It is anticipated in the European Commission (EC), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) that wind energy expands further. Wind energy has had an annual growth of 15.6% during...

GIS-based site selection methodology for hybrid renewable energy systems: A case study from western Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aydin, Nazli Yonca; Kentel, Elcin; Sebnem Duzgun, H.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► We proposed a site selection methodology for renewable energy systems. ► Fuzzy logic and geographic information system tools are used. ► Alternative locations are evaluated in terms of economic and environmental criteria. - Abstract: Renewable energy sources are presently being considered as alternatives to fossil fuels, because they are perpetual, environmentally friendly, and release negligible amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere while producing energy. A disadvantage of renewable energy systems, however, is that continuous energy generation is not possible by using only one type of renewable energy system, since renewable energy resources depend on climate and weather conditions. Two or more renewable energy systems can be integrated into a hybrid system to overcome this problem so that when one resource is not available, the other can continue producing energy. Another disadvantage of renewable energy sources is that they are not available at every geographic location. Their use is mostly advantageous at remote locations that often are of high ecological value. Thus, identification of preferable locations for renewable energy systems is a decision-making problem that requires evaluation of the potential of the resource together with economic and environmental limitations. This paper introduces a methodology for site selection of hybrid wind solar–PV renewable energy systems. First, environmental acceptability and economic feasibility objectives are identified through a comprehensive review of the literature, current Turkish laws and legislations, and interviews with the General Directorate of Electrical Power Resources Survey and Development Administration of Turkey. Second, viable locations in terms of environmental acceptability and economic feasibility are determined through a fuzzy decision-making procedure that uses ordered weighted averaging algorithm for aggregating multiple objectives. Then, priority sites are identified

Wind Resource Assessment and Requested Wind Turbine Recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Ken [Municipal Civil Corporation, Gas City, IN (United States); Wolar, John [Municipal Civil Corporation, Gas City, IN (United States)

2012-10-22

Alternate Energy Solutions, Inc. (“AESWR”) was engaged by the Town of Brookston (“Brookston”) to assemble, erect and maintain one 60 m XHD meteorological tower manufactured by NRG Systems, Inc.; for monitoring, recording and evaluating collected wind data. It is the opinion of AESWR staff that study results support the development of a wind turbine project at the Bol Family Farm provided: a) additional land is leased for the project; b) project construction costs are controlled; and c) a prudent power purchase agreement is negotiated with a power take-off entity. We believe that a project having an aggregate nameplate rating sized from 6.0 MW to 20 MW would be appropriate for this location. We recommend 100-125 acres of land per installed MW be used as a general rule for acquiring wind energy land lease agreements, total land lease holdings to be acquired would then approach 750 acres to 2,500 acres.

The role of energy storage in accessing remote wind resources in the Midwest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamy, Julian; Azevedo, Inês L.; Jaramillo, Paulina

2014-01-01

Replacing current generation with wind energy would help reduce the emissions associated with fossil fuel electricity generation. However, integrating wind into the electricity grid is not without cost. Wind power output is highly variable and average capacity factors from wind farms are often much lower than conventional generators. Further, the best wind resources with highest capacity factors are often located far away from load centers and accessing them therefore requires transmission investments. Energy storage capacity could be an alternative to some of the required transmission investment, thereby reducing capital costs for accessing remote wind farms. This work focuses on the trade-offs between energy storage and transmission. In a case study of a 200 MW wind farm in North Dakota to deliver power to Illinois, we estimate the size of transmission and energy storage capacity that yields the lowest average cost of generating and delivering electricity ($/MW h) from this farm. We find that transmission costs must be at least $600/MW-km and energy storage must cost at most $100/kW h in order for this application of energy storage to be economical. - Highlights: • We evaluate the break-even cost of energy storage to replace transmission. • We focus on a wind farm in North Dakota that must deliver power to Illinois. • Energy storage capital costs must be less than $100/kW h. • Transmission capital costs must be greater than $600/MW-km

Hydrography - Water Resources

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC Education | GIS Inventory — A Water Resource is a DEP primary facility type related to the Water Use Planning Program. The sub-facility types related to Water Resources that are included are:...

Endurance Wind Power : practical insights into small wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hicks, D.

2008-01-01

This presentation discussed practical issues related to purchasing and installing small wind turbines in Canada. Wind power capacity can be estimated by looking at provincial wind maps as well as by seeking wind data at local airports. Wind resources are typically measured at heights of between 20 meters and 50 m. The height of a wind turbine tower can significantly increase the turbine's wind generating capacity. Turbine rotors should always be placed 30 feet higher than obstacles within 500 feet. Many provinces have now mandated utilities to accept renewable energy resources from grid-connected wind energy plants. Net billing systems are used to determine the billing relationship between power-producing consumers and the utilities who will buy the excess power and sell it to other consumers. Utilities are not yet mandated to purchase excess power, and it is likely that federal and provincial legislation will be needed to ensure that net billing systems continue to grow. Many Canadian municipalities have no ordinances related to wind turbine placements. Consumers interested in purchasing small wind turbines should ensure that the turbine has been certified by an accredited test facility and has an adequate safety system. The noise of the turbine as well as its power performance in relation to the purchaser's needs must also be considered. It was concluded that small wind turbines can provide a means for electricity consumers to reduce their carbon footprint and hedge against the inflationary costs of fossil-fuelled energy resources. tabs., figs

A Comparison of Wind Flow Models for Wind Resource Assessment in Wind Energy Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathieu Landry

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to assess the accuracy of various coupled mesoscale-microscale wind flow modeling methodologies for wind energy applications. This is achieved by examining and comparing mean wind speeds from several wind flow modeling methodologies with observational measurements from several 50 m met towers distributed across the study area. At the mesoscale level, with a 5 km resolution, two scenarios are examined based on the Mesoscale Compressible Community Model (MC2 model: the Canadian Wind Energy Atlas (CWEA scenario, which is based on standard input data, and the CWEA High Definition (CWEAHD scenario where high resolution land cover input data is used. A downscaling of the obtained mesoscale wind climate to the microscale level is then performed, where two linear microscale models, i.e., MsMicro and the Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program (WAsP, are evaluated following three downscaling scenarios: CWEA-WAsP, CWEA-MsMicro and CWEAHD-MsMicro. Results show that, for the territory studied, with a modeling approach based on the MC2 and MsMicro models, also known as Wind Energy Simulation Toolkit (WEST, the use of high resolution land cover and topography data at the mesoscale level helps reduce modeling errors for both the mesoscale and microscale models, albeit only marginally. At the microscale level, results show that the MC2-WAsP modeling approach gave substantially better results than both MC2 and MsMicro modeling approaches due to tweaked meso-micro coupling.

Assessment of Economic Feasibility on Promising Wind Energy Sites in Myanmar

OpenAIRE

Soe, Thi Thi; Zheng, Maosheng; Aung, Zar Ni

2016-01-01

Due to lack of reliable wind data measured on site by high tower mast, the preliminarily wind atlas of Myanmar is forecasted with Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Application (MERRA) reanalysis data using in ArcGIS. From the result wind- map, the promising areas were found in Arakan, Pathein, Yangon, Ye which lie at coastal area in Myanmar and of which wind power density can be used for village power application with isolated-grid. To evaluate the annual energy production of...

Remote sensing and GIS-based prediction and assessment of copper-gold resources in Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Shasha; Wang, Gongwen; Du, Wenhui; Huang, Luxiong

2014-01-01

Quantitative integration of geological information is a frontier and hotspot of prospecting decision research in the world. The forming process of large scale Cu-Au deposits is influenced by complicated geological events and restricted by various geological factors (stratum, structure and alteration). In this paper, using Thailand's copper-gold deposit district as a case study, geological anomaly theory is used along with the typical copper and gold metallogenic model, ETM+ remote sensing images, geological maps and mineral geology database in study area are combined with GIS technique. These techniques create ore-forming information such as geological information (strata, line-ring faults, intrusion), remote sensing information (hydroxyl alteration, iron alteration, linear-ring structure) and the Cu-Au prospect targets. These targets were identified using weights of evidence model. The research results show that the remote sensing and geological data can be combined to quickly predict and assess for exploration of mineral resources in a regional metallogenic belt

Anholt offshore wind farm winds investigated from satellite images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Badger, Merete; Volker, Patrick

, i.e. before the wind farm was constructed. Based on these data the wind resource is estimated. Concurrent Sentinel-1 SAR data and available SCADA and lidar data, kindly provided by DONG Energy and partners, for the period January 2013 to June 2015 account for ~70 images, while ~300 images...... are available for Sentinel-1 from July 2015 to February 2017. The Sentinel-1 wind maps are investigated for wind farm wake effects. Furthermore the results on wind resources and wakes are compared to the SCADA and model results from WRF, Park, Fuga and RANS models....

Analysis of terrains suitable for tourism and recreation by using geographic information system (GIS).

Science.gov (United States)

Aklıbaşında, Meliha; Bulut, Yahya

2014-09-01

The use and utilization areas of geographic information system (GIS) increase every day due to both enabling easiness in storing, updating, grouping, analyzing, correlating, and mapping of data about evaluation factors in planning studies and having quite low error margin depending on the accuracy of data stored. In fact, GIS is also used both in visualization and in various analyses in planning tourism terrains. In this study, the effectiveness of GIS on holistic evaluation of natural and cultural resources in planning tourism terrains was analyzed. Natural and cultural resources in Kayseri Yahyalı were quantified by using ArcGIS 9.3 software from GIS software; data were analyzed and potential tourism and recreation terrains, level of suitability, and rate of coverage were determined. As a result of the analyses, it was determined that 11.847 ha area (6,53%) was quite suitable for such kind of activities, 103.010 ha (56,77%) was suitable, 39.278 ha (21,65%) was less suitable, and 27.314 ha area (15,05%) was not suitable. In the next stage, landscape properties which are suitable for tourism and recreation were evaluated and landscape types were classified in the sense of their tourist attraction. It was determined that the water resources and valley landscapes were the basic sources of the tourism and recreation activities of Yahyalı, and it was determined that the landscape of the forest and mountain was important for variety of the tourism and recreation activities of Yahyalı.

GIS and Public Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefania Bertazzon

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This Special Issue on GIS and public health is the result of a highly selective process, which saw the participation of some 20 expert peer-reviewers and led to the acceptance of one half of the high-quality submissions received over the past year. Many threads link these papers to each other and, indeed, to our original call for papers, but the element that most clearly emerges from these works is the inextricable connection between public health and the environment. Indeed, GIS analysis of public health simply cannot disregard the geospatial dimension of environmental resources and risks. What consistently emerges from these analyses is that current geospatial research can only scratch the surface of the complex interactions of spatial resources, risks, and public health. In today’s world, or at least in the developed world, researchers and practitioners can count on virtually endless data, on inexpensive computational power, and on seamless connectivity. In this research environment, these papers point to the need for improved analytical tools, covering concepts, representation, modeling and reliability. These works are important contributions that help us to identify what advances in geospatial analysis can better address the complex interactions of public health with our physical and cultural environment, and bridge research and practice, so that geospatial analyses can inform public health policy making. [...

Venice GIS Portal: la punta dell'iceberg

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rudj Maria Todaro

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Venice GIS portal Single information system, the only methodology but an undetermined number of working groups. The basic principle, which underpins Insula, is flexibility, a philosophy which has enabled it to test the adoption of new processes of governance of assets, as a strategic resource of the Public.

Assessing risk to birds from industrial wind energy development via paired resource selection models.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Tricia A; Brooks, Robert P; Lanzone, Michael; Brandes, David; Cooper, Jeff; O'Malley, Kieran; Maisonneuve, Charles; Tremblay, Junior; Duerr, Adam; Katzner, Todd

2014-06-01

When wildlife habitat overlaps with industrial development animals may be harmed. Because wildlife and people select resources to maximize biological fitness and economic return, respectively, we estimated risk, the probability of eagles encountering and being affected by turbines, by overlaying models of resource selection for each entity. This conceptual framework can be applied across multiple spatial scales to understand and mitigate impacts of industry on wildlife. We estimated risk to Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) from wind energy development in 3 topographically distinct regions of the central Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania (United States) based on models of resource selection of wind facilities (n = 43) and of northbound migrating eagles (n = 30). Risk to eagles from wind energy was greatest in the Ridge and Valley region; all 24 eagles that passed through that region used the highest risk landscapes at least once during low altitude flight. In contrast, only half of the birds that entered the Allegheny Plateau region used highest risk landscapes and none did in the Allegheny Mountains. Likewise, in the Allegheny Mountains, the majority of wind turbines (56%) were situated in poor eagle habitat; thus, risk to eagles is lower there than in the Ridge and Valley, where only 1% of turbines are in poor eagle habitat. Risk within individual facilities was extremely variable; on average, facilities had 11% (SD 23; range = 0-100%) of turbines in highest risk landscapes and 26% (SD 30; range = 0-85%) of turbines in the lowest risk landscapes. Our results provide a mechanism for relocating high-risk turbines, and they show the feasibility of this novel and highly adaptable framework for managing risk of harm to wildlife from industrial development. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

NASA World Wind, Open Source 4D Geospatial Visualization Platform: *.NET & Java*

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, P.; Coughlan, J.

2006-12-01

NASA World Wind has only one goal, to provide the maximum opportunity for geospatial information to be experienced, be it education, science, research, business, or government. The benefits to understanding for information delivered in the context of its 4D virtual reality are extraordinary. The NASA World Wind visualization platform is open source and therefore lends itself well to being extended to service *any* requirements, be they proprietary and commercial or simply available. Data accessibility is highly optimized using standard formats including internationally certified open standards (W*S). Although proprietary applications can be built based on World Wind, and proprietary data delivered that leverage World Wind, there is nothing proprietary about the visualization platform itself or the multiple planetary data sets readily available, including global animations of live weather. NASA World Wind is being used by NASA research teams as well as being a formal part of high school and university curriculum. The National Guard uses World Wind for emergency response activities and State governments have incorporated high resolution imagery for GIS management as well as for their cross-agency emergency response activities. The U.S. federal government uses NASA World Wind for a myriad of GIS and security-related issues (NSA, NGA, DOE, FAA, etc.).

Avian Monitoring and Risk Assessment at the Tehachapi Pass Wind Resource Area; Period of Performance: October 2, 1996--May 27, 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, R.; Neumann, N.; Tom, J.; Erickson, W. P.; Strickland, M. D.; Bourassa, M.; Bay, K. J.; Sernka, K. J.

2004-09-01

Observations of dead raptors at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area triggered concerns on the parts of regulatory agencies, environmental/conservation groups, wildlife resource agencies, and wind and electric utility industries about possible impacts to birds from wind energy development. Bird fatality rates observed at most wind projects are not currently considered significant to individual bird species populations. Although many bird species have observed fatalities, raptors have received the most attention. The primary objective of this study was to estimate and compare bird utilization, fatality rates, and collision risk indices among factors such as bird taxonomic groups, turbine types, and turbine locations within the operating wind plant in the Tehachapi Pass WRA, in south-central California between October 1996 and May 1998.

Proven GIS adaptions by other industries benefit pipe lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanders, M.D.

1994-01-01

Automated mapping (AM) and facilities management (FM) projects in the pipe line industry are becoming increasingly desirable applications of geographic information system (GIS) technology. In the vernacular of GIS technology, application for the pipe line industry are commonly referred to as automated mapping and facilities management (AM/FM). Computer software allows the use of computer aided drafting (CAD) and database packages for information storage/retrieval to provide displays and reports of data set relationships in a given location and area. Geographic information management technology has grown to meet the expanding database resource capabilities. This technological growth also has combined with increasingly powerful and efficient computer systems and networks with plummeting hardware, software, and network enhancement costs. This paper discusses Regulatory compliance, planning, implementation, and data sharing process of the GIS

Wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This chapter discusses the role wind energy may have in the energy future of the US. The topics discussed in the chapter include historical aspects of wind energy use, the wind energy resource, wind energy technology including intermediate-size and small wind turbines and intermittency of wind power, public attitudes toward wind power, and environmental, siting and land use issues

Determining the impact of wind on system costs via the temporal patterns of load and wind generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, Clay D.; Gotham, Douglas J.; Preckel, Paul V.; Liu, Andrew L.

2013-01-01

Ambitious targets have been set for expanding electricity generation from renewable sources, including wind. Expanding wind power impacts needs for other electricity generating resources. As states plan for increasing levels of wind generation in their portfolio of generation resources it is important to consider how this intermittent resource impacts the need for other generation resources. A case study for Indiana estimates the value of wind capacity and demonstrates how to optimize its level and the levels of other generation resources. Changes are driven by temporal patterns of wind power output and load. System wide impacts are calculated for energy, capacity, and costs under multiple wind expansion scenarios which highlight the geographic characteristics of a systems portfolio of wind generation. The impacts of carbon prices, as proposed in the Bingaman Bill, are considered. Finally, calculations showing the effect increasing levels of wind generation will have on end use Indiana retail rates are included. - Highlights: • We estimate the value of wind capacity. • We determine wind generation's impact on the optimal mix of non-wind generation. • Optimal levels of wind and non-wind generation are determined. • We consider the impact of a carbon price on the optimal mix of resources. • The impact of additional wind capacity on Indiana residential rates is calculated

On-line applications of numerical models in the Black Sea GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuk, E.; Khaliulin, A.; Zodiatis, G.; Nikolaidis, A.; Nikolaidis, M.; Stylianou, Stavros

2017-09-01

The Black Sea Geographical Information System (GIS) is developed based on cutting edge information technologies, and provides automated data processing and visualization on-line. Mapserver is used as a mapping service; the data are stored in MySQL DBMS; PHP and Python modules are utilized for data access, processing, and exchange. New numerical models can be incorporated in the GIS environment as individual software modules, compiled for a server-based operational system, providing interaction with the GIS. A common interface allows setting the input parameters; then the model performs the calculation of the output data in specifically predefined files and format. The calculation results are then passed to the GIS for visualization. Initially, a test scenario of integration of a numerical model into the GIS was performed, using software, developed to describe a two-dimensional tsunami propagation in variable basin depth, based on a linear long surface wave model which is legitimate for more than 5 m depth. Furthermore, the well established oil spill and trajectory 3-D model MEDSLIK (http://www.oceanography.ucy.ac.cy/medslik/) was integrated into the GIS with more advanced GIS functionality and capabilities. MEDSLIK is able to forecast and hind cast the trajectories of oil pollution and floating objects, by using meteo-ocean data and the state of oil spill. The MEDSLIK module interface allows a user to enter all the necessary oil spill parameters, i.e. date and time, rate of spill or spill volume, forecasting time, coordinates, oil spill type, currents, wind, and waves, as well as the specification of the output parameters. The entered data are passed on to MEDSLIK; then the oil pollution characteristics are calculated for pre-defined time steps. The results of the forecast or hind cast are then visualized upon a map.

The Use of Reanalysis Data for Wind Resource Assessment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; George, R.

1999-01-01

An important component of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory wind resource assessment methodology is the use of available upper-air data to construct detailed vertical profiles for a study region. Currently, the most useful upper-air data for this type of analysis are archived observations from approximately 1800 rawinsonde and pilot balloon stations worldwide. However, significant uncertainty exists in the accuracy of the constructed profiles for many regions. The United States Reanalysis Data Set, recently created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, has the potential to improve the quality of the vertical profiles. The initial evaluation of the usefulness of the Reanalysis data for wind resource assessment consisted of contrasting reanalysis-derived vertical profiles of the wind characteristics to those generated from upper-air observations for comparable locations. The results indicate that, while reanalysis data can be substituted for upper-air observation data in the assessment methodology for areas of the world where observation data are limited, enough discrepancies with observation data have been noticed to warrant further studies

GIS4schools: custom-made GIS-applications for educational use

Science.gov (United States)

Demharter, Timo; Michel, Ulrich

2013-10-01

From a didactic point of view the procurement and the application of modern geographical methods and functions become more and more important. Although the integration of GIS in the classroom is repeatedly demanded, inter alia in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the number of GIS users is small in comparison to other European countries or the USA. Possible reasons for this could, for instance, lie in the lack of GIS and computer knowledge of the teachers themselves and the subsequent extensive training effort in Desktop-GIS [1]. Today you have the technological possibilities to provide the broad public with geoinformation and geotechnology: Web technologies offer access to web-based, mobile and local applications through simple gateways. The objective of the project "GIS4schools" is to generate a service-based infrastructure, which can be operated via mobile clients as well as via Desktop-GIS or a Browser. Due to the easy availability of the services the focus is in particular on students. This circumstance is a novelty through which a differentiated approach to the implementation of GIS in schools is established. Accordingly, the pilot nature of this project becomes apparent as well as its greater importance beyond its actual content especially for the sector of media development at colleges of education. The continuity from Web-GIS to Desktop-GIS is innovative: The goal is to create an adapted multi-level solution which allows both, an easy introduction if desired or a detailed analysis - either to be achieved with a focus especially on students and their cooperation among one another.

FROM EXCAVATIONS TO WEB: A GIS FOR ARCHAEOLOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. G. D'Urso

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The study and the protection of Cultural Heritage in recent years have undergone a revolution about the search tools and the reference disciplines. The technological approach to the problem of the collection, organization and publication of archaeological data using GIS software has completely changed the essence of the traditional methods of investigation, paving the way to the development of several application areas, up to the Cultural Resource Management. A relatively recent specific sector of development for archaeological GIS development sector is dedicated to the intra - site analyses aimed to recording, processing and display information obtained during the excavations. The case - study of the archaeological site located in the south - east of San Pietro Vetere plateau in Aquino, in the Southern Lazio, is concerned with the illustration of a procedure describing the complete digital workflow relative to an intra-site analysis of an archaeological dig. The GIS project implementation and its publication on the web, thanks to several softwares, particularly the FOSS (Free Open Source Software Quantum - GIS, are an opportunity to reflect on the strengths and the critical nature of this particular application of the GIS technology. For future developments in research it is of fundamental importance the identification of a digital protocol for processing of excavations (from the acquisition, cataloguing, up data insertion, also on account of a possible future Open Project on medieval Aquino.

Selecting Suitable Sites for Wind Energy Development in Ghana ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Selecting Suitable Sites for Wind Energy Development in Ghana. ... In the event of shortages in petroleum products, these power plants will have ... Layers of these criteria setting were combined using the overlay function in a GIS environment.

Wind resource and plant output data sets for wind integration studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frank, Jaclyn D.; Manobianco, John; Alonge, Charles J.; Brower, Michael C. [AWS Truepower, Albany, NY (United States)

2010-07-01

One of the first step towards understanding the impact of increasing penetrations of wind is developing data sets of wind power output over large regions. To facilitate the development of these data sets, AWS Truepower (AWST) generated wind speeds over multiple years (2-3) using the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS). These simulations were performed with high spatial resolution (1-2 km) to capture the wind flows over each area of interest. Output was saved in 10-minute interval to capture variations in wind speed so that plant output could be analyzed against utility load and system operations. This paper will describe the methodology of mesoscale modeling, site selection, conversion to power, and downscaling to high frequency output. Additionally, the generation of synthetic forecasts will be discussed. The validation results from recent studies in the eastern United States and Hawaii will be highlighted. (orig.)

ArcGIS 9.3 ed i database spaziali: gli scenari di utilizzo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Bartoli

2009-03-01

Full Text Available ArcGis 9.3 and spatial databases: application sceneriesThe latest news from ESRI suggests that it will soon be possible to link to the PostgreSQL database. This resulted in a collaboration between the PostGis geometry model with SDOGEOMETRY - the oracle database - a hierarchial and spatial design database. This had a direct impact on the PMI review and the business models of local governments. ArcSdewould be replaced by Zig-Gis 2.0 providing greater offerings to the GIS community. Harnessing this system will take advantage of human resources to aid in the design of potentconceptual data models. Further funds are still requiredto promote the product under a prominent license.

Assessment of Off-shore Wind Energy Resource in China using QuikSCAT Satellite data and SAR Satellite Images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xiuzhi, Zhang; Yanbo, Shen; Jingwei, Xu

2010-01-01

From August 2008 to August 2009, the project ‘Off-Shore Wind Energy Resource Assessment and Feasibility Study of Off-Shore Wind Farm Development in China’ was carried out by China Meteorological Administration (CMA), which was funded by the EU-China Energy and Environment Programme (EEP). As one ...

The benefits of GIS to land use planning

Science.gov (United States)

Strielko, Irina; Pereira, Paulo

2014-05-01

The development of information technologies has significantly changed the approach to land use and spatial planning, management of natural resources. GIS considerably simplifies territorial planning operating analyzing necessary data concerning their spatial relationship that allows carrying out complex assessment of the situation and creates a basis for adoption of more exact and scientifically reasonable decisions in the course of land use. To assess the current land use situation and the possibility of modeling possible future changes associated with complex of adopted measures GIS allows the integration of diverse spatial data, for example, data about soils, climate, vegetation, and other and also to visualize available information in the form of maps, graphs or charts, 3D models. For the purposes of land use GIS allow using data of remote sensing, which allows to make monitoring of anthropogenic influence in a particular area and estimate scales and rates of degradation of green cover, flora and fauna. Assessment of land use can be made in complex or componentwise, indicating the test sites depending on the goals. GIS make it easy to model spatial distribution of various types of pollution of stationary and mobile sources in soil, atmosphere and the hydrological network. Based on results of the analysis made by GIS choose the optimal solutions of land use that provide the minimum impact on environment, make optimal decisions of conflict associated with land use and control of their using. One of the major advantages of using GIS is possibility of the complex analysis in concrete existential aspect. Analytical opportunities of GIS define conditionality of spatial distribution of objects and interrelation communication between them. For a variety of land management objectives analysis method is chosen based on the parameters of the problem and parameters of use of its results.

Wind energy resources assessment for Yanbo, Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rehman, Shafiqur

2004-01-01

The paper presents long term wind data analysis in terms of annual, seasonal and diurnal variations at Yanbo, which is located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia. The wind speed and wind direction hourly data for a period of 14 years between 1970 and 1983 is used in the analysis. The analysis showed that the seasonal and diurnal pattern of wind speed matches the electricity load pattern of the location. Higher winds of the order of 5.0 m/s and more were observed during the summer months of the year and noon hours (09:00 to 16:00 h) of the day. The wind duration availability is discussed as the percent of hours during which the wind remained in certain wind speed intervals or bins. Wind energy calculations were performed using wind machines of sizes 150, 250, 600, 800, 1000, 1300, 1500, 2300 and 2500 kW rated power. Wind speed is found to remain above 3.5 m/s for 69% of the time during the year at 40, 50, 60, and 80 m above ground level. The energy production analysis showed higher production from wind machines of smaller sizes than the bigger ones for a wind farm of 30 MW installed capacity. Similarly, higher capacity factors were obtained for smaller wind machines compared to larger ones

Automation technology using Geographic Information System (GIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Cynthia L.

1994-01-01

Airport Surface Movement Area is but one of the actions taken to increase the capacity and safety of existing airport facilities. The System Integration Branch (SIB) has designed an integrated system consisting of an electronic moving display in the cockpit, and includes display of taxi routes which will warn controllers and pilots of the position of other traffic and warning information automatically. Although, this system has in test simulation proven to be accurate and helpful; the initial process of obtaining an airport layout of the taxi-routes and designing each of them is a very tedious and time-consuming process. Other methods of preparing the display maps are being researched. One such method is the use of the Geographical Information System (GIS). GIS is an integrated system of computer hardware and software linking topographical, demographic and other resource data that is being referenced. The software can support many areas of work with virtually unlimited information compatibility due to the system's open architecture. GIS will allow us to work faster with increased efficiency and accuracy while providing decision making capabilities. GIS is currently being used at the Langley Research Center with other applications and has been validated as an accurate system for that task. GIS usage for our task will involve digitizing aerial photographs of the topology for each taxi-runway and identifying each position according to its specific spatial coordinates. The information currently being used can be integrated with the GIS system, due to its ability to provide a wide variety of user interfaces. Much more research and data analysis will be needed before this technique will be used, however we are hopeful this will lead to better usage of man-power and technological capabilities for the future.

Satellite winds as a tool for offshore wind resource assessment: The Great Lakes Wind Atlas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Doubrawa, Paula; Barthelmie, Rebecca Jane; Pryor, Sara C.

2015-01-01

and combine all scenes into one wind speed map. QuikSCAT winds undergo a seasonal correction due to lack of data during the cold season that is based on its ratio relative to buoy time series. All processing steps reduce the biases of the individual maps relative to the buoy observed wind climates. The remote...

Jet stream wind power as a renewable energy resource: little power, big impacts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. M. Miller

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Jet streams are regions of sustained high wind speeds in the upper atmosphere and are seen by some as a substantial renewable energy resource. However, jet streams are nearly geostrophic flow, that is, they result from the balance between the pressure gradient and Coriolis force in the near absence of friction. Therefore, jet stream motion is associated with very small generation rates of kinetic energy to maintain the high wind velocities, and it is this generation rate that will ultimately limit the potential use of jet streams as a renewable energy resource. Here we estimate the maximum limit of jet stream wind power by considering extraction of kinetic energy as a term in the free energy balance of kinetic energy that describes the generation, depletion, and extraction of kinetic energy. We use this balance as the basis to quantify the maximum limit of how much kinetic energy can be extracted sustainably from the jet streams of the global atmosphere as well as the potential climatic impacts of its use. We first use a simple thought experiment of geostrophic flow to demonstrate why the high wind velocities of the jet streams are not associated with a high potential for renewable energy generation. We then use an atmospheric general circulation model to estimate that the maximum sustainable extraction from jet streams of the global atmosphere is about 7.5 TW. This estimate is about 200-times less than previous estimates and is due to the fact that the common expression for instantaneous wind power 12 ρv³ merely characterizes the transport of kinetic energy by the flow, but not the generation rate of kinetic energy. We also find that when maximum wind power is extracted from the jet streams, it results in significant

Contribution of G.I.S. for the survey and the management of water ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Contribution of G.I.S. for the survey and the management of water resources in the basin ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences ... having a relationship with the study and the management of the water resources of the basin of ...

FY 1998 Report on development of large-scale wind power generation systems. Feasibility study on development of new technologies for wind power generation, and study on local wind resource prediction model; 1998 nendo ogata furyoku hatsuden system kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Furyoku hatsuden shingijutsu kaihatsu kanosei chosa (kyokusho fukyo yosoku shuho ni kansuru chosa)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

Described herein are the FY 1998 results of the study on local wind resource prediction model. The local wind resource prediction models developed so far apply the solutions based on the existing linear models (WASP and AVENU) for relatively flat terrain. These models are studied for their applicability limits. The study covers wind direction and speed patterns of the surface wind and upper winds at 3 sites in Hokkaido, Fukushima Pref. and Shizuoka Pref. The surface winds are found to be correlated with the upper winds both for wind direction and wind speed in almost all cases. Next, wind resources simulations are carried out for each of the classified weather patterns using the existing models, and the prediction errors are studied. The results show that the prediction accuracy of the existing linear models is highly dependent on inputs of observed data, and that the accuracy tends to decrease for the situations where the upper and surface wind conditions greatly differ from each other, as in the case of a land and sea breeze of thermal origin. It is also confirmed that prediction accuracy is lower on complex terrain than on flat terrain. (NEDO)

The Energy Commission's notice to the Minister of Natural Resources regarding the place of wind energy in Quebec's energy portfolio

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumais, A.; Frayne, A.; Tanguay, F.

1998-01-01

In December 1997 Quebec's Minister of Natural Resources requested that the Energy Commission advise him on the quota given to wind energy in the future energy development plans of Hydro-Quebec. The Commission's report to the Minister includes 18 recommendations. Among these is a recommendation that an assessment of wind resources be conducted as soon as possible to identify suitable sites for the installation of wind turbines. A provincial program for the development of wind energy is also recommended, to be initiated by the year 2002, and that it should proceed over the next nine years to reach a target production capacity of 450 MW by the year 2011. This production would come from the yearly installation of 60 to 70 wind turbines of 750 kV. The Commission also recommended that in the initial years costs for this wind energy not exceed that of the Le Nordais project, i.e. 5.8 cents per kWh. Any additional costs incurred in the generation of wind electricity over conventional hydro power should be assumed by the Quebec Government. Conversely, in instances where the wind power is sold to consumers outside of the province, Hydro-Quebec should pay for the full cost of this power. 8 tabs., 1 appendix

Wind: new wind markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cameron, A.

2005-01-01

The June 2005 edition of 'Wind Force 12' suggests that wind could generate 12% of global electricity requirements by 2020. But what moves a potential market into an emerging one? Geographical factors include a good wind resource, plenty of open space and the ability to get the generated electricity to end-users. A country's political framework is equally important, with fixed price systems, renewable quota systems and political will all playing a part. Some potential wind markets around the world are thought to have the conditions necessary to become key players in the wind industry. The emerging markets in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan and the Philippines are highlighted as examples

Analysis of GIS data to investigate natural resource impacts of high-voltage overhead lines in the examples in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thinh, Nguyen Xuan; Sander, Leon; Kopec, Jakob; Muehlnickel, Kai

2013-01-01

In this paper we describe shortly Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia as study areas and the legal framework, both in the context of natural resource impacts of high-voltage overhead lines. We then conduct the buffer analysis of a GIS dataset in order to investigate natural resource impacts of existing high-voltage overhead lines in the two mentioned study areas. The paper is based upon the first results of the interdisciplinary research and development project ''Power Network Planning'' funded as part of the 6th Energy research program ''Research for an environmentally friendly, reliable and affordable energy supply'' by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). (orig.)

Assessment of water resource potential for common use of cow and goat by GIS (Case study: Boroujerd Rangeland, Sarab Sefid, Iran)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ariapour, A; Karami, K; Sadr, A

2014-01-01

One of the most important factors to sustainability utilization of natural potential by rangeland grazing suitability is water resources suitability. This study is a model for quantitative, qualitative and spatial distance assessment of water resource's propriety for goat and cow grazing based on geographic information systems (GIS) in Boroujerd Sarab Sefid rangeland, Lorestan province, Iran 2013. In this research from combining three factors such as quantity, quality and water resource's distances; the final model of degree of propriety of water resources for goat and cow grazing is characterized. Results showed that slope factor was the reason of limitation, and it is considered as a limiting factor in propriety of water resources, so in terms of access to water resources for goat grazing, 4856.4 ha (100%) located in S1 classes and for cow grazing, 4023.14 ha (68.6%) located in S1(suitability) classes, 1,187 ha (20.24%) in S2 classes and 654.8 ha (11.16%) located in S3 classes, respectively for both. So according to the results the rangelands in this region are most suitable for goat because of terrain and weather but this, in combination with, cow hasbandry will allow diversity of economic production and stability of incomes

Environmental application for GIS: Assessing Iskandar Malaysia's (IM) sewage sludge for potential biomass resource

Science.gov (United States)

Salim, M. R.; Shaharuddin, N.; Abdullah Halim, K.

2014-02-01

The low carbon scenario could be achieved through the identification of major sectors contributing to the emission of high greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. Sewage treatment plant (STP) was ranked as one of the major sectors that emits methane gas (CH4) during treatment processes, including sludge treatment. Sludge treatment is also capital extensive with high operational cost. Thus, sewage sludge has been accepted as a nuisance in STP. However, many has claimed that, sludge produced contain organic matter that has the potential for biomass resource. Thus, it would be such a Žwaste? if sludge are directly disposed of into the landfill without utilizing them at its full potential. In order to do so, it is vital to be able to determine the amount of sludge production. This research was implemented in Iskandar Malaysia regions in the state of Johor. By using GIS tool, the regions that produced the most sewage sludge can be determined, and can be group as critical area. Result shows that Nusajaya produces the most, compared to other regions, which indicated Nusajaya as a densely populated region.

Reliability benefits of dispersed wind resource development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milligan, M.; Artig, R.

1998-05-01

Generating capacity that is available during the utility peak period is worth more than off-peak capacity. Wind power from a single location might not be available during enough of the peak period to provide sufficient value. However, if the wind power plant is developed over geographically disperse locations, the timing and availability of wind power from these multiple sources could provide a better match with the utility's peak load than a single site. There are other issues that arise when considering disperse wind plant development. Singular development can result in economies of scale and might reduce the costs of obtaining multiple permits and multiple interconnections. However, disperse development can result in cost efficiencies if interconnection can be accomplished at lower voltages or at locations closer to load centers. Several wind plants are in various stages of planning or development in the US. Although some of these are small-scale demonstration projects, significant wind capacity has been developed in Minnesota, with additional developments planned in Wyoming, Iowa and Texas. As these and other projects are planned and developed, there is a need to perform analysis of the value of geographically disperse sites on the reliability of the overall wind plant.This paper uses a production-cost/reliability model to analyze the reliability of several wind sites in the state of Minnesota. The analysis finds that the use of a model with traditional reliability measures does not produce consistent, robust results. An approach based on fuzzy set theory is applied in this paper, with improved results. Using such a model, the authors find that system reliability can be optimized with a mix of disperse wind sites

NASA World Wind, Open Source 4D Geospatial Visualization Platform: *.NET & Java* for EDUCATION

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, P.; Kuehnel, F.

2006-12-01

NASA World Wind has only one goal, to provide the maximum opportunity for geospatial information to be experienced, be it education, science, research, business, or government. The benefits to understanding for information delivered in the context of its 4D virtual reality are extraordinary. The NASA World Wind visualization platform is open source and therefore lends itself well to being extended to service *any* requirements, be they proprietary and commercial or simply available. Data accessibility is highly optimized using standard formats including internationally certified open standards (W*S). Although proprietary applications can be built based on World Wind, and proprietary data delivered that leverage World Wind, there is nothing proprietary about the visualization platform itself or the multiple planetary data sets readily available, including global animations of live weather. NASA World Wind is being used by NASA research teams as well as being a formal part of high school and university curriculum. The National Guard uses World Wind for emergency response activities and State governments have incorporated high resolution imagery for GIS management as well as for their cross-agency emergency response activities. The U.S. federal government uses NASA World Wind for a myriad of GIS and security-related issues (NSA, NGA, DOE, FAA, etc.).

Joint Evaluation of the Wave and Offshore Wind Energy Resources in the Developing Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugen Rusu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The objective of the present work is to assess the global wind and wave resources in the vicinity of some developing countries by evaluating 16-year of data (2001–2016, coming from the European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecast (ECMWF. Until now, not much work has been done to evaluate and use the renewable energy sources from these marine environments. This is because most of the attention was focused on more promising areas, such as the European coasts, which are more advanced in terms of technical and economical aspects. A general perspective of the current energy market from the selected target areas is first presented, indicating at the same time the progresses that have been reported in the field of the renewable energy. Besides the spatial and seasonal variations of the marine resources considered, the results also indicate the energy potential of these coastal environments as well as the performances of some offshore wind turbines, which may operate in these regions.

Development of integrated evaluation information system for sandstone-hosted uranium deposits based on ComGIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ke Dan; Han Shaoyang; Hou Huiqun; Hu Shuiqing

2006-01-01

Component GIS owns many merits such as flexible function and easy to be used, which makes it very suitable for the development of professional GIS application system in geoscience field. During the process of exploration and evaluation for uranium resources, computer application system has been a powerful tool owning to the following functions: professional processing, management and storage of data, spatial analysis, visualization and mapping, etc. In this paper technological routine is presented for the development of integrated evaluation information system for sandstone-hosted uranium deposits based on ArcGIS Engine. General GIS functions can be realized with ArcGIS Engine easily and quickly, the developers could concentrate their attentions on developing professional functions, which will shorten the developing period and make the system more efficient. It is showed that the system developed on ArcGIS Engine platform is stable in operation, flexible in functions and professional in application. (authors)

Wind resource assessment: A three year experience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Abbadi, N.M.; Alawaji, S.H.; Eugenio, N.N. [Energy Research Institute (ERI), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)

1997-12-31

This paper presents the results of data collected from three different sites located in the central, northern and eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Each site is geographically and climatologically different from the others. Statistical moments and frequency distributions were generated for the wind speed and direction parameters to analyse the wind energy characteristics and its availability. The results of these statistical operations present the wind power and energy density estimates of the three sites. The data analysis presented a prospect of wind energy conversion and utilization. The annual extractable energy density is 488, 890, 599 kWh/m{sup 2} for the central, northern and eastern sites respectively. Also, the paper demonstrates the lessons learned from operating wind assessment stations installed in remote areas having different environmental characteristics.

Evolution of wind towards wind turbine

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Giyanani, A.H.; Bierbooms, W.A.A.M.; Van Bussel, G.J.W.

2015-01-01

Remote sensing of the atmospheric variables with the use of LiDAR is a relatively new technology field for wind resource assessment in wind energy. The validation of LiDAR measurements and comparisons is of high importance for further applications of the data.

Developing and Testing an Online Tool for Teaching GIS Concepts Applied to Spatial Decision-Making

Science.gov (United States)

Carver, Steve; Evans, Andy; Kingston, Richard

2004-01-01

The development and testing of a Web-based GIS e-learning resource is described. This focuses on the application of GIS for siting a nuclear waste disposal facility and the associated principles of spatial decision-making using Boolean and weighted overlay methods. Initial student experiences in using the system are analysed as part of a research…

Monthly Wind Characteristics and Wind Energy in Rwanda

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

Abstract. Evaluating wind power potential for a site is indispensable before making any decision for the installation of wind energy infrastructures and planning for relating projects. This paper presents a branch of a composite analysis whose objective was to investigate the potential of wind energy resource in Rwanda.

Astronomical Site Survey for Mountain Wumingshan Area in Western Sichuan Based on GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, N.; Liu, Y.; Zhao, H. M.

2016-11-01

In the Western-China Astronomical Site Survey project, we utilize the Geographic Information System (GIS) for the collection of long-term data, in order to investigate and study the Wumingshan (WMS) mountain and its surrounding areas for their geography, geology, climate, meteorology, social and demographic trends. Data analysis results show that the WMS mountain is located in the eastern fold belt of the Tibet Plateau--the typical region of the Hengduan Mountains, which leads to its large elevation, gently trended ridge, and stable geological structure. The highest altitude above the sea level at the WMS is more than 5000 m, but there are population settlements nearby with the low altitude of only 2000-3000 m, which are important for realizing low-level cost logistics conditions for the future headquarter or logistic base. Earthquake landslides and other geological disasters were rarely recorded. The other facts are such as the dry and clean atmosphere, the sparse vegetation, the semi-dry-state land, the perennial prevailing southwest wind, the rain-less winter, and the relatively short rainy-season summer, the location in the heartland of the large Shangri-La, no records of dust storms and the other inclement weather, low cloud coverage, the stability of wind direction, the small wind speed, the high possibility of clear sky, the far distance away from the developed areas in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, and Tibet Autonomous Region, the sparsely populated people, the slowly developed economy, the peaceful and stable social environment, etc. Specially, in recent years, with the development of the local tourist resources, the traffic conditions in Daocheng have been significantly improved. With high quality highway maintenance and daily air transport capacity, the transportation of land and aviation is rarely interrupted due to snowing, which often happens in high plateau regions. Therefore, the WMS area possesses the potential conditions to establish the future

Wind power, network congestion and hydro resource utilisation in the Norwegian power market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foersund, Finn; Singh, Balbir; Jensen, Trond; Larsen, Cato

2005-01-01

Capacity constraints in electricity networks can have important impacts on utilization of new renewable energy (RE) capacity and incumbent generation resources. Neglect of such impacts in development of RE resources can result in crowding-out of incumbent generation. This trade-off is particularly problematic if the incumbent generation also consists of renewable sources, such as hydropower in the Norwegian electricity system. This paper presents a numerical analysis of the current wind-power development plans in North Norway and their impacts on utilization of hydropower. Policy simulations in paper are conducted using a dynamic partial equilibrium model that is calibrated to reflect the structure of the Nordic power market. The paper draws conclusion and policy implications for integration of RE resources in the Norwegian power market. (Author)

Wind Energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez D, J.M.

1998-01-01

The general theory of the wind energy conversion systems is presented. The availability of the wind resource in Colombia and the ranges of the speed of the wind in those which is possible economically to use the wind turbines are described. It is continued with a description of the principal technological characteristics of the wind turbines and are split into wind power and wind-powered pumps; and its use in large quantities grouped in wind farms or in autonomous systems. Finally, its costs and its environmental impact are presented

Oil Well Bottom Hole Locations, This GIS data set was produced as a general reference for the Department of Natural Resources, the oil and gas industry, environmental and regulatory agencies, landowners, and the public., Published in 2007, 1:24000 (1in=2000ft) scale, Louisiana State University (LSU).

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC Education | GIS Inventory — Oil Well Bottom Hole Locations dataset current as of 2007. This GIS data set was produced as a general reference for the Department of Natural Resources, the oil and...

The Maryland Coastal Plain Aquifer Information System: A GIS-based tool for assessing groundwater resources

Science.gov (United States)

Andreasen, David C.; Nardi, Mark R.; Staley, Andrew W.; Achmad, Grufron; Grace, John W.

2016-01-01

Groundwater is the source of drinking water for ∼1.4 million people in the Coastal Plain Province of Maryland (USA). In addition, groundwater is essential for commercial, industrial, and agricultural uses. Approximately 0.757 × 109 L d–1 (200 million gallons/d) were withdrawn in 2010. As a result of decades of withdrawals from the coastal plain confined aquifers, groundwater levels have declined by as much as 70 m (230 ft) from estimated prepumping levels. Other issues posing challenges to long-term groundwater sustainability include degraded water quality from both man-made and natural sources, reduced stream base flow, land subsidence, and changing recharge patterns (drought) caused by climate change. In Maryland, groundwater supply is managed primarily by the Maryland Department of the Environment, which seeks to balance reasonable use of the resource with long-term sustainability. The chief goal of groundwater management in Maryland is to ensure safe and adequate supplies for all current and future users through the implementation of appropriate usage, planning, and conservation policies. To assist in that effort, the geographic information system (GIS)–based Maryland Coastal Plain Aquifer Information System was developed as a tool to help water managers access and visualize groundwater data for use in the evaluation of groundwater allocation and use permits. The system, contained within an ESRI ArcMap desktop environment, includes both interpreted and basic data for 16 aquifers and 14 confining units. Data map layers include aquifer and ­confining unit layer surfaces, aquifer extents, borehole information, hydraulic properties, time-series groundwater-level data, well records, and geophysical and lithologic logs. The aquifer and confining unit layer surfaces were generated specifically for the GIS system. The system also contains select groundwater-quality data and map layers that quantify groundwater and surface-water withdrawals. The aquifer

How Spatial Relationships Influence Economic Preferences for Wind Power—A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren Knapp

2015-06-01

Full Text Available An increasing number of studies in the environmental and resource economic literature suggest that preferences for changes or improvements in environmental amenities, from water quality to recreation, are spatially heterogeneous. One of these effects in particular, distance decay, suggests that respondents exhibit a higher willingness to pay (WTP the closer they live to a proposed environmental improvement and vice versa. The importance of spatial effects cannot be underestimated. Several of these studies find significant biases in aggregate WTP values, and therefore social welfare, from models that disregard spatial factors. This relationship between spatial aspects and preferences, however, remains largely ignored in the non-market valuation literature applied to valuing preferences for renewable energy, generally, and wind power, specifically. To our knowledge, fourteen peer-reviewed studies have been conducted to estimate stated preferences (SP for onshore and/or offshore wind development, yet less than half of those utilize any measure to account for the relationship between spatial effects and preferences. Fewer still undertake more robust measures that account for these spatially dependent relationships, such as via GIS, outside incorporating a single ‘distance’ attribute within the choice experiment (CE referenda. This paper first reviews the methodologies of the SP wind valuation studies that have integrated measure(s to account for spatial effects. We then categorize these effects into three dimensions—distance to a proposed wind project, distance to existing wind project(s, and cumulative effects—supporting each with a discussion of significant findings, including those found in the wind hedonic and acceptance literature. Policy implications that can be leveraged to maximize social welfare when siting future wind projects as well as recommendations for additional research to control for preference spatial heterogeneity in wind

Improved Formulation for the Optimization of Wind Turbine Placement in a Wind Farm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zong Woo Geem

2013-01-01

Full Text Available As an alternative to fossil fuels, wind can be considered because it is a renewable and greenhouse gas-free natural resource. When wind power is generated by wind turbines in a wind farm, the optimal placement of turbines is critical because different layouts produce different efficiencies. The objective of the wind turbine placement problem is to maximize the generated power while minimizing the cost in installing the turbines. This study proposes an efficient optimization formulation for the optimal layout of wind turbine placements under the resources (e.g., number of turbines or budget limit by introducing corresponding constraints. The proposed formulation gave users more conveniences in considering resources and budget bounds. After performing the optimization, results were compared using two different methods (branch and bound method and genetic algorithm and two different objective functions.

Geographical information modelling for land resource survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruin, de S.

2000-01-01

The increasing popularity of geographical information systems (GIS) has at least three major implications for land resources survey. Firstly, GIS allows alternative and richer representation of spatial phenomena than is possible with the traditional paper map. Secondly, digital technology has

The Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) toolkit (Presentation)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caroline Draxl: NREL

2014-01-01

Regional wind integration studies require detailed wind power output data at many locations to perform simulations of how the power system will operate under high penetration scenarios. The wind datasets that serve as inputs into the study must realistically reflect the ramping characteristics, spatial and temporal correlations, and capacity factors of the simulated wind plants, as well as being time synchronized with available load profiles.As described in this presentation, the WIND Toolkit fulfills these requirements by providing a state-of-the-art national (US) wind resource, power production and forecast dataset.

Aurora Research: Earth/Space Data Fusion Powered by GIS and Python

Science.gov (United States)

Kalb, V. L.; Collado-Vega, Y. M.; MacDonald, E.; Kosar, B.

2017-12-01

The Aurora Borealis and Australis Borealis are visually spectacular, but are also an indicator of Sun-magnetosphere-ionosphere energy transfer during geomagnetic storms. The Saint Patrick's Day Storm of 2015 is a stellar example of this, and is the focus of our study that utilizes the Geographical Information Services of ArcGIS to bring together diverse and cross disciplinary data for analysis. This research leverages data from a polar-orbiting Earth science sensor band that is exquisitely sensitive to visible light, namely the Day/Night Band (DNB) of the VIIRS instrument onboard the Suomi NPP satellite. This Sun-synchronous data source can provide high temporal and spatial resolution observations of the aurorae, which is not possible with current space science instruments. This data can be compared with auroral model data, solar wind measurements, and citizen science data of aurora observations and tweets. While the proposed data sources are diverse in type and format, their common attribute is location. This is exploited by bringing all the data into ArcGIS for mapping and analysis. The Python programming language is used extensively to automate the data preprocessing, group the DNB and citizen science observations to temporal windows associated with an auroral model timestep, and print the data to a pdf mapbook for sharing with team members. There are several goals for this study: compare the auroral model predictions with DNB data, look for fine-grained structure of the aurora in the DNB data, compare citizen science data with DNB values, and correlate DNB intensity with solar wind data. This study demonstrates the benefits of using a GIS platform to bring together data that is diverse in type and format for scientific exploration, and shows how Python can be used to scale up to large datasets.

Assessment of wind energy potential in China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhu Rong; Zhang De; Wang Yuedong; Xing Xuhuang; Li Zechun

2009-01-01

China wind atlas was made by numerical simulation and the wind energy potential in China was calculated. The model system for wind energy resource assessment was set up based on Canadian Wind Energy Simulating Toolkit (WEST) and the simulating method was as follows. First, the weather classes were obtained depend on meteorological data of 30 years. Then, driven by the initial meteorological field produced by each weather class, the meso-scale model ran for the distribution of wind energy resources according each weather class condition one by one. Finally, averaging all the modeling output weighted by the occurrence frequency of each weather class, the annual mean distribution of wind energy resources was worked out. Compared the simulated wind energy potential with other results from several ac-tivities and studies for wind energy resource assessment, it is found that the simulated wind energy potential in mainland of China is 3 times that from the second and the third investigations for wind energy resources by CMA, and is similar to the wind energy potential obtained by NREL in Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) project. The simulated offshore wind energy potential of China seems smaller than the true value. According to the simulated results of CMA and considering lots of limited factors to wind energy development, the final conclusion can be obtained that the wind energy availability in China is 700～1 200 GW, in which 600～1 000 GW is in mainland and 100～200 GW is on offshore, and wind power will become the important part of energy composition in future.

Small Wind Site Assessment Guidelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olsen, Tim [Advanced Energy Systems LLC, Eugene, OR (United States); Preus, Robert [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-09-01

Site assessment for small wind energy systems is one of the key factors in the successful installation, operation, and performance of a small wind turbine. A proper site assessment is a difficult process that includes wind resource assessment and the evaluation of site characteristics. These guidelines address many of the relevant parts of a site assessment with an emphasis on wind resource assessment, using methods other than on-site data collection and creating a small wind site assessment report.

Accurate Short-Term Power Forecasting of Wind Turbines: The Case of Jeju Island’s Wind Farm

OpenAIRE

BeomJun Park; Jin Hur

2017-01-01

Short-term wind power forecasting is a technique which tells system operators how much wind power can be expected at a specific time. Due to the increasing penetration of wind generating resources into the power grids, short-term wind power forecasting is becoming an important issue for grid integration analysis. The high reliability of wind power forecasting can contribute to the successful integration of wind generating resources into the power grids. To guarantee the reliability of forecas...

Wind farm project economics : value of wind

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bills-Everett, T. [Mainstream Renewable Power, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2010-07-01

This PowerPoint presentation discussed methods of increasing the value of wind power projects. Appropriate turbine selection and layout is needed to ensure that wind resources are fully developed. Construction costs have a significant impact on project costs. The world turbine price index has not significantly fluctuated since 2006. Operating costs, and the value of wind power projects, are linked with OPEX fluctuations. Wind power projects can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An increase in wind power capacity will reduce the overall cost of energy produced from wind power. Countries can use wind power as part of a renewable energy portfolio designed to reduce risks related to diminishing petroleum supplies. Wind power will help to ensure a global transition to renewable energy use. tabs., figs.

Interactive-GIS-Tutor (IGIST) Integration: Creating a Digital Space Gateway within a Textbook-Bound South African Geography Class

Science.gov (United States)

Fleischmann, E. M-L.; van der Westhuizen, C. P.; Cilliers, D.

2015-01-01

Currently there is a global drive among political and educational institutions to implement geographic information system (GIS) practice in secondary schools. However, Geography teachers worldwide, including in South Africa, face significant practical challenges in this regard. Lack of curriculum aligned GIS resources, funds and teacher GIS…

Climatic wind tunnel for wind engineering tasks

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kuznetsov, Sergeii; Pospíšil, Stanislav; Král, Radomil

2015-01-01

Roč. 112, 2-B (2015), s. 303-316 ISSN 1897-628X R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-12892S Keywords : climatic tunnel * wind tunnel * atmospheric boundary layer * flow resistance * wind tunnel contraction Subject RIV: JM - Building Engineering https://suw.biblos.pk.edu.pl/resources/i5/i6/i6/i7/i6/r56676/KuznetsovS_ClimaticWind.pdf

EnviroAtlas - Annual average potential wind energy resource by 12-digit HUC for the Conterminous United States

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset shows the annual average potential wind energy resource in kilowatt hours per square kilometer per day for each 12-digit Hydrologic Unit...

Tribal Wind Assessment by the Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pete, Belvin; Perry, Jeremy W.; Stump, Raphaella Q.

2009-08-28

The Tribes, through its consultant and advisor, Distributed Generation Systems (Disgen) -Native American Program and Resources Division, of Lakewood CO, assessed and qualified, from a resource and economic perspective, a wind energy generation facility on tribal lands. The goal of this feasibility project is to provide wind monitoring and to engage in preproject planning activities designed to provide a preliminary evaluation of the technical, economic, social and environmental feasibility of developing a sustainable, integrated wind energy plan for the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapahoe Tribes, who resides on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The specific deliverables of the feasibility study are: 1) Assessments of the wind resources on the Wind River Indian Reservation 2) Assessments of the potential environmental impacts of renewable development 3) Assessments of the transmission capacity and capability of a renewable energy project 4) Established an economic models for tribal considerations 5) Define economic, cultural and societal impacts on the Tribe

Externalities in utility resource selection: A means to formally recognize the envionmental benefits of wind farms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birner, S.

1992-01-01

Wind can only make its full contribution to the minimization of the total cost of energy services if it is valued for all the costs that it avoids, including avoided environmental costs. Means of incorporating environmental costs, or externalities, into utility planning decisions are described. Externalities are defined as uncompensated costs or benefits of an action borne by a party other than the one causing the costs. A simple example of the use of externalities in utility resource selection is presented, comparing costs of a coal-fired power plant and a wind farm. Externalities of wind farms are analyzed and found to be very low. An examination of some aspects of legislation in the USA and Canada shows a trend for utility commissions and other regulatory bodies to determine that including externalitites lies within their mandate. By formally recognizing and accounting for the environmental benefits of wind farms, it is seen that externalities can have a significant effect on utility demand for wind energy. A review of USA state actions regarding externalities is appended. 10 refs

Monthly Wind Characteristics and Wind Energy in Rwanda | Sarari ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Evaluating wind power potential for a site is indispensable before making any ... objective was to investigate the potential of wind energy resource in Rwanda. ... fit to the distribution of the measured wind data varies from a location to another. ... (14); Eritrea (1); Ethiopia (30); Ghana (27); Kenya (29); Lesotho (1); Libya (2) ...

Potential Coastal Pumped Hydroelectric Energy Storage Locations Identified using GIS-based Topographic Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, R.; Barnhart, C. J.; Benson, S. M.

2013-12-01

Large-scale electrical energy storage could accommodate variable, weather dependent energy resources such as wind and solar. Pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHS) and compressed energy storage area (CAES) have life cycle energy and financial costs that are an order of magnitude lower than conventional electrochemical storage technologies. However PHS and CAES storage technologies require specific geologic conditions. Conventional PHS requires an upper and lower reservoir separated by at least 100 m of head, but no more than 10 km in horizontal distance. Conventional PHS also impacts fresh water supplies, riparian ecosystems, and hydrologic environments. A PHS facility that uses the ocean as the lower reservoir benefits from a smaller footprint, minimal freshwater impact, and the potential to be located near off shore wind resources and population centers. Although technologically nascent, today one coastal PHS facility exists. The storage potential for coastal PHS is unknown. Can coastal PHS play a significant role in augmenting future power grids with a high faction of renewable energy supply? In this study we employ GIS-based topographic analysis to quantify the coastal PHS potential of several geographic locations, including California, Chile and Peru. We developed automated techniques that seek local topographic minima in 90 m spatial resolution shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) digital elevation models (DEM) that satisfy the following criteria conducive to PHS: within 10 km from the sea; minimum elevation 150 m; maximum elevation 1000 m. Preliminary results suggest the global potential for coastal PHS could be very significant. For example, in northern Chile we have identified over 60 locations that satisfy the above criteria. Two of these locations could store over 10 million cubic meters of water or several GWh of energy. We plan to report a global database of candidate coastal PHS locations and to estimate their energy storage capacity.

Valutare l'erosione del suolo mediante l'applicazione del modello RUSLE in ambiente GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grazia Fattoruso

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Predicting GIS erosion by the application of RUSLE model in a GIS environmentThe increase in soil erosion risk due to the current climate change is a focal point in sustainable land management. Being able to predict this risk is fundamental for impact mitigation and soil resource conservation. The state-of-the-art in geo-information technologies (GIS, remote sensing and image analysis allows to perform, in semi-automatic way, assessments and predictions based on the integration of theoretical models with advanced techniques of geospatial and geostatistical analysis. One of the most successful models worldwide utilised, such as the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE, can be now easily applied at multiple spatial and temporal scales, i.e. from the single catchment up to the regional scale and from interannual to long-term scenarios, by using GIS-based tools.

Valutare l'erosione del suolo mediante l'applicazione del modello RUSLE in ambiente GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grazia Fattoruso

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Predicting GIS erosion by the application of RUSLE model in a GIS environment The increase in soil erosion risk due to the current climate change is a focal point in sustainable land management. Being able to predict this risk is fundamental for impact mitigation and soil resource conservation. The state-of-the-art in geo-information technologies (GIS, remote sensing and image analysis allows to perform, in semi-automatic way, assessments and predictions based on the integration of theoretical models with advanced techniques of geospatial and geostatistical analysis. One of the most successful models worldwide utilised, such as the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE, can be now easily applied at multiple spatial and temporal scales, i.e. from the single catchment up to the regional scale and from interannual to long-term scenarios, by using GIS-based tools.

An integrated GIS/remote sensing data base in North Cache soil conservation district, Utah: A pilot project for the Utah Department of Agriculture's RIMS (Resource Inventory and Monitoring System)

Science.gov (United States)

Wheeler, D. J.; Ridd, M. K.; Merola, J. A.

1984-01-01

A basic geographic information system (GIS) for the North Cache Soil Conservation District (SCD) was sought for selected resource problems. Since the resource management issues in the North Cache SCD are very complex, it is not feasible in the initial phase to generate all the physical, socioeconomic, and political baseline data needed for resolving all management issues. A selection of critical varables becomes essential. Thus, there are foud specific objectives: (1) assess resource management needs and determine which resource factors ae most fundamental for building a beginning data base; (2) evaluate the variety of data gathering and analysis techniques for the resource factors selected; (3) incorporate the resulting data into a useful and efficient digital data base; and (4) demonstrate the application of the data base to selected real world resoource management issues.

Wind Streaks on Earth; Exploration and Interpretation

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen-Zada, Aviv Lee; Blumberg, Dan G.; Maman, Shimrit

2015-04-01

Wind streaks, one of the most common aeolian features on planetary surfaces, are observable on the surface of the planets Earth, Mars and Venus. Due to their reflectance properties, wind streaks are distinguishable from their surroundings, and they have thus been widely studied by remote sensing since the early 1970s, particularly on Mars. In imagery, these streaks are interpreted as the presence - or lack thereof - of small loose particles on the surface deposited or eroded by wind. The existence of wind streaks serves as evidence for past or present active aeolian processes. Therefore, wind streaks are thought to represent integrative climate processes. As opposed to the comprehensive and global studies of wind streaks on Mars and Venus, wind streaks on Earth are understudied and poorly investigated, both geomorphologically and by remote sensing. The aim of this study is, thus, to fill the knowledge gap about the wind streaks on Earth by: generating a global map of Earth wind streaks from modern high-resolution remotely sensed imagery; incorporating the streaks in a geographic information system (GIS); and overlaying the GIS layers with boundary layer wind data from general circulation models (GCMs) and data from the ECMWF Reanalysis Interim project. The study defines wind streaks (and thereby distinguishes them from other aeolian features) based not only on their appearance in imagery but more importantly on their surface appearance. This effort is complemented by a focused field investigation to study wind streaks on the ground and from a variety of remotely sensed images (both optical and radar). In this way, we provide a better definition of the physical and geomorphic characteristics of wind streaks and acquire a deeper knowledge of terrestrial wind streaks as a means to better understand global and planetary climate and climate change. In a preliminary study, we detected and mapped over 2,900 wind streaks in the desert regions of Earth distributed in

FOSS GIS on the GFZ HPC cluster: Towards a service-oriented Scientific Geocomputation Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Loewe, P.; Klump, J.; Thaler, J.

2012-12-01

High performance compute clusters can be used as geocomputation workbenches. Their wealth of resources enables us to take on geocomputation tasks which exceed the limitations of smaller systems. These general capabilities can be harnessed via tools such as Geographic Information System (GIS), provided they are able to utilize the available cluster configuration/architecture and provide a sufficient degree of user friendliness to allow for wide application. While server-level computing is clearly not sufficient for the growing numbers of data- or computation-intense tasks undertaken, these tasks do not get even close to the requirements needed for access to "top shelf" national cluster facilities. So until recently such kind of geocomputation research was effectively barred due to lack access to of adequate resources. In this paper we report on the experiences gained by providing GRASS GIS as a software service on a HPC compute cluster at the German Research Centre for Geosciences using Platform Computing's Load Sharing Facility (LSF). GRASS GIS is the oldest and largest Free Open Source (FOSS) GIS project. During ramp up in 2011, multiple versions of GRASS GIS (v 6.4.2, 6.5 and 7.0) were installed on the HPC compute cluster, which currently consists of 234 nodes with 480 CPUs providing 3084 cores. Nineteen different processing queues with varying hardware capabilities and priorities are provided, allowing for fine-grained scheduling and load balancing. After successful initial testing, mechanisms were developed to deploy scripted geocomputation tasks onto dedicated processing queues. The mechanisms are based on earlier work by NETELER et al. (2008) and allow to use all 3084 cores for GRASS based geocomputation work. However, in practice applications are limited to fewer resources as assigned to their respective queue. Applications of the new GIS functionality comprise so far of hydrological analysis, remote sensing and the generation of maps of simulated tsunamis

ASSESSING SPATIAL DATA QUALITY OF PARTICIPATORY GIS STUDIES: A CASE STUDY IN CAPE TOWN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Musungu

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Participatory GIS (PGIS has been prescribed by scholars who sought to find a means to enable more equitable access to GIS data, diversifying the types of knowledge captured by a GIS and re-engineering GIS software. The popularity of PGIS is evident in the various studies and contexts in which it has been utilised. These include studies in risk assessment, land administration, resource management, crime mapping and urban design to mention but a few. Despite the popularity of PGIS as a body of research, little has been done in the analysis of the quality of PGIS information. The study investigated the use of data quality criteria commonly used in traditional GIS systems and shows that it is possible to apply the criteria used in traditional GIS to PGIS. It provides a starting point for PGIS studies to assess the quality of the product. Notably, this a reflective exercise on one case study, but the methodologies used in this study have been replicated in many others undertaken by Community Based Organisations as well as Non-Governmental Organisations. Therefore the findings are relevant to such projects.

Assessing Spatial Data Quality of Participatory GIS Studies: a Case Study in Cape Town

Science.gov (United States)

Musungu, K.

2015-10-01

Participatory GIS (PGIS) has been prescribed by scholars who sought to find a means to enable more equitable access to GIS data, diversifying the types of knowledge captured by a GIS and re-engineering GIS software. The popularity of PGIS is evident in the various studies and contexts in which it has been utilised. These include studies in risk assessment, land administration, resource management, crime mapping and urban design to mention but a few. Despite the popularity of PGIS as a body of research, little has been done in the analysis of the quality of PGIS information. The study investigated the use of data quality criteria commonly used in traditional GIS systems and shows that it is possible to apply the criteria used in traditional GIS to PGIS. It provides a starting point for PGIS studies to assess the quality of the product. Notably, this a reflective exercise on one case study, but the methodologies used in this study have been replicated in many others undertaken by Community Based Organisations as well as Non-Governmental Organisations. Therefore the findings are relevant to such projects.

EuGI: a novel resource for studying genomic islands to facilitate horizontal gene transfer detection in eukaryotes.

Science.gov (United States)

Clasen, Frederick Johannes; Pierneef, Rian Ewald; Slippers, Bernard; Reva, Oleg

2018-05-03

Genomic islands (GIs) are inserts of foreign DNA that have potentially arisen through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). There are evidences that GIs can contribute significantly to the evolution of prokaryotes. The acquisition of GIs through HGT in eukaryotes has, however, been largely unexplored. In this study, the previously developed GI prediction tool, SeqWord Gene Island Sniffer (SWGIS), is modified to predict GIs in eukaryotic chromosomes. Artificial simulations are used to estimate ratios of predicting false positive and false negative GIs by inserting GIs into different test chromosomes and performing the SWGIS v2.0 algorithm. Using SWGIS v2.0, GIs are then identified in 36 fungal, 22 protozoan and 8 invertebrate genomes. SWGIS v2.0 predicts GIs in large eukaryotic chromosomes based on the atypical nucleotide composition of these regions. Averages for predicting false negative and false positive GIs were 20.1% and 11.01% respectively. A total of 10,550 GIs were identified in 66 eukaryotic species with 5299 of these GIs coding for at least one functional protein. The EuGI web-resource, freely accessible at http://eugi.bi.up.ac.za , was developed that allows browsing the database created from identified GIs and genes within GIs through an interactive and visual interface. SWGIS v2.0 along with the EuGI database, which houses GIs identified in 66 different eukaryotic species, and the EuGI web-resource, provide the first comprehensive resource for studying HGT in eukaryotes.

Interactive energy atlas for Colorado and New Mexico: an online resource for decisionmakers and the public

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, N.B.; Babel, N.; Diffendorfer, J.; Ignizio, D.; Hawkins, S.; Latysh, N.; Leib, K.; Linard, J.; Matherne, A.

2012-01-01

Throughout the western United States, increased demand for energy is driving the rapid development of oil, gas (including shale gas and coal-bed methane), and uranium, as well as renewable energy resources such as geothermal, solar, and wind. Much of the development in the West is occurring on public lands, including those under Federal and State jurisdictions. In Colorado and New Mexico, these public lands make up about 40 percent of the land area. Both states benefit from the revenue generated by energy production, but resource managers and other decisionmakers must balance the benefits of energy development with the potential consequences for ecosystems, recreation, and other resources. Although a substantial amount of geospatial data on existing energy development and energy potential is available, much of this information is not readily accessible to natural resource decisionmakers, policymakers, or the public. Furthermore, the data often exist in varied formats, requiring considerable processing before these datasets can be used to evaluate tradeoffs among resources, compare development alternatives, or quantify cumulative impacts. To allow for a comprehensive evaluation among different energy types, an interdisciplinary team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists has developed an online Interactive Energy Atlas for Colorado and New Mexico. The Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area (EERMA) interdisciplinary team includes investigators from several USGS science centers1. The purpose of the EERMA Interactive Energy Atlas is to facilitate access to geospatial data related to energy resources, energy infrastructure, and natural resources that may be affected by energy development. The Atlas is designed to meet the needs of various users, including GIS analysts, resource managers, policymakers, and the public, who seek information about energy in the western United States. Currently, the Atlas has two primary capabilities, a GIS data viewer and an

SimWIND: A geospatial infrastructure model for optimizing wind power generation and transmission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, Benjamin R.; Middleton, Richard S.

2012-01-01

Wind is a clean, enduring energy resource with the capacity to satisfy 20% or more of U.S. electricity demand. Presently, wind potential is limited by a paucity of electrical transmission lines and/or capacity between promising wind resources and primary load centers. We present the model SimWIND to address this shortfall. SimWIND is an integrated optimization model for the geospatial arrangement and cost minimization of wind-power generation–transmission–delivery infrastructure. Given a set of possible wind-farm sites, the model simultaneously determines (1) where and how much power to generate and (2) where to build new transmission infrastructure and with what capacity in order to minimize the cost for delivering a targeted amount of power to load. Costs and routing of transmission lines consider geographic and social constraints as well as electricity losses. We apply our model to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Interconnection, considering scenarios that deliver up to 20 GW of new wind power. We show that SimWIND could potentially reduce ERCOT's projected ∼$5B transmission network upgrade line length and associated costs by 50%. These results suggest that SimWIND's coupled generation–transmission–delivery modeling approach could play a critical role in enhancing planning efforts and reducing costs for wind energy integration. - Highlights: ► Wind power is limited by transmission capacity between resources and demands. ► SimWIND is a coupled generation-transmission-delivery model for wind infrastructure. ► The model minimizes costs considering realistic transmission routing and networking. ► We show that SimWIND could save 50% of $5B costs for expanding the Texas grid. ► Results suggest SimWIND may play a critical role in enhancings wind planning efforts.

Grid-based modeling for land use planning and environmental resource mapping.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuiper, J. A.

1999-08-04

Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is used by land managers and natural resource planners for examining resource distribution and conducting project planning, often by visually interpreting spatial data representing environmental or regulatory variables. Frequently, many variables influence the decision-making process, and modeling can improve results with even a small investment of time and effort. Presented are several grid-based GIS modeling projects, including: (1) land use optimization under environmental and regulatory constraints; (2) identification of suitable wetland mitigation sites; and (3) predictive mapping of prehistoric cultural resource sites. As different as the applications are, each follows a similar process of problem conceptualization, implementation of a practical grid-based GIS model, and evaluation of results.

The wind energy potential in Argentina

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alvarez, P

2005-01-01

The wind energy are increasing its contribution to large scale electricity generation in many countries.The high technical maturity reached by modern wind turbines returns it viable and competitive in many regions, specially in those where a suitable legal framework stimulates the generation from renewable sources of energy.As this regard, the objective of this report is to demonstrate that, far from being limited to provide energy to remote, dispersed or geographically isolated sites not served by conventional networks, the wind energy has fully potential to supply a pretty relevant part of the electrical consumption of the great urban centers located in those zones of the country favored with this resource.For it, two preliminary estimations has done: the total 'windy' surface area in geographic proximity of the high voltage lines and electrical substations of the Argentine System of Interconnection (SADI) able 'to be seeded' with wind turbines, and the total electrical energy feasible of being generated from them.The paper supposes the exclusion of important non apt areas by virtue of strictly geographic, economic or environmental considerations.Even so, the result of the final calculation is extraordinarily high and promissory: if only 4% of the total surface of the contiguous land areas (in a maximum radius of 62 km) to the high voltage transmission system (in which the annual mean wind speed surpasses the 5.55 m/s) would be filled with power wind turbines, the annual average energy produced by them would be equivalent to 89% of the estimated national electrical consumption for year 2013.The usable wind potential in favorable technical conditions for commercial generation rounds this way around 40,000 MW, that would report an annual average energy of 100,000 GWh, occupying an area near 5000 km 2 .The total wind energy potential is (of course) considerably greater. Anyway, given the random nature of the wind and the consequent characteristics of not firm power

Novel GIS approaches to watershed science and management: Description, prediction, and integration

Science.gov (United States)

Spatial data and geographic information systems (GIS) are playing an increasingly important role in watershed science and management, particularly in the face of increasing climate uncertainty and demand for water resources. Concomitantly, scientists and managers are presented wi...

The FOSS GIS Workbench on the GFZ Load Sharing Facility compute cluster

Science.gov (United States)

Löwe, P.; Klump, J.; Thaler, J.

2012-04-01

Compute clusters can be used as GIS workbenches, their wealth of resources allow us to take on geocomputation tasks which exceed the limitations of smaller systems. To harness these capabilities requires a Geographic Information System (GIS), able to utilize the available cluster configuration/architecture and a sufficient degree of user friendliness to allow for wide application. In this paper we report on the first successful porting of GRASS GIS, the oldest and largest Free Open Source (FOSS) GIS project, onto a compute cluster using Platform Computing's Load Sharing Facility (LSF). In 2008, GRASS6.3 was installed on the GFZ compute cluster, which at that time comprised 32 nodes. The interaction with the GIS was limited to the command line interface, which required further development to encapsulate the GRASS GIS business layer to facilitate its use by users not familiar with GRASS GIS. During the summer of 2011, multiple versions of GRASS GIS (v 6.4, 6.5 and 7.0) were installed on the upgraded GFZ compute cluster, now consisting of 234 nodes with 480 CPUs providing 3084 cores. The GFZ compute cluster currently offers 19 different processing queues with varying hardware capabilities and priorities, allowing for fine-grained scheduling and load balancing. After successful testing of core GIS functionalities, including the graphical user interface, mechanisms were developed to deploy scripted geocomputation tasks onto dedicated processing queues. The mechanisms are based on earlier work by NETELER et al. (2008). A first application of the new GIS functionality was the generation of maps of simulated tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea for the Tsunami Atlas of the FP-7 TRIDEC Project (www.tridec-online.eu). For this, up to 500 processing nodes were used in parallel. Further trials included the processing of geometrically complex problems, requiring significant amounts of processing time. The GIS cluster successfully completed all these tasks, with processing times

Pygrass: An Object Oriented Python Application Programming Interface (API for Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS Geographic Information System (GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Ciolli

2013-03-01

Full Text Available PyGRASS is an object-oriented Python Application Programming Interface (API for Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS Geographic Information System (GIS, a powerful open source GIS widely used in academia, commercial settings and governmental agencies. We present the architecture of the PyGRASS library, covering interfaces to GRASS modules, vector and raster data, with a focus on the new capabilities that it provides to GRASS users and developers. Our design concept of the module interface allows the direct linking of inputs and outputs of GRASS modules to create process chains, including compatibility checks, process control and error handling. The module interface was designed to be easily extended to work with remote processing services (Web Processing Service (WPS, Web Service Definition Language (WSDL/Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP. The new object-oriented Python programming API introduces an abstract layer that opens the possibility to use and access transparently the efficient raster and vector functions of GRASS that are implemented in C. The design goal was to provide an easy to use, but powerful, Python interface for users and developers who are not familiar with the programming language C and with the GRASS C-API. We demonstrate the capabilities, scalability and performance of PyGRASS with several dedicated tests and benchmarks. We compare and discuss the results of the benchmarks with dedicated C implementations.

Teaching with ArcGIS Pro

OpenAIRE

Theller, Larry

2016-01-01

For Fall semester 2016 the ABE department moved the course ASM 540 Basic GIS from ArcGIS Desktop 10.2 to ArcGIS Pro 1.3. This software from ESRI has a completely new look and feel, (ribbon-based rather than cascading menus) and is a true 64 bit application, capable of multi-threading, and built on Python 3. After ArcGIS Desktop 10.5 is released, desktop ends and the future release will be ArcGIS Pro; so it makes sense to switch sooner rather than later. This talk will discuss some issues and...

Advancements in Wind Integration Study Data Modeling: The Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) Toolkit; Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Draxl, C.; Hodge, B. M.; Orwig, K.; Jones, W.; Searight, K.; Getman, D.; Harrold, S.; McCaa, J.; Cline, J.; Clark, C.

2013-10-01

Regional wind integration studies in the United States require detailed wind power output data at many locations to perform simulations of how the power system will operate under high-penetration scenarios. The wind data sets that serve as inputs into the study must realistically reflect the ramping characteristics, spatial and temporal correlations, and capacity factors of the simulated wind plants, as well as be time synchronized with available load profiles. The Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) Toolkit described in this paper fulfills these requirements. A wind resource dataset, wind power production time series, and simulated forecasts from a numerical weather prediction model run on a nationwide 2-km grid at 5-min resolution will be made publicly available for more than 110,000 onshore and offshore wind power production sites.

Geographical Information System, to support the management of water resource in rural basins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Correa V, Paula Lizet; Velez U, Jaime Ignacio

2002-01-01

The implementation of a GIS support system for the management of water resources at a catchment scale is presented. This system is based upon the hidroSIG java software, which was developed within the Atlas Hidrologico de Colombia project. In the GIS database was included all the information required by the environmental authorities in charge of the water resources management, offering the possibility of displaying, consulting and evaluating different scenarios that could help to make decisions upon the assignation and use of the resource. As a first application of the GIS, a 35 km 2 river basin located in Rionegro Plateau was used. The applied methodology was developed in the following stages: gathering of the available information, processing of the digital topography, study of the dynamics of the climate in the zone, evaluation of the water availability, and evaluation of the demand and water balance. The results obtained show the importance of having continuous and articulated spatial information in a GIS, so permanent update of the information is allowed. It is concluded that the implemented GIS constitutes a valuable tool for planning and management of the hydric resource within a hydrographic basin

Should we build wind farms close to load or invest in transmission to access better wind resources in remote areas? A case study in the MISO region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamy, Julian V.; Jaramillo, Paulina; Azevedo, Inês L.; Wiser, Ryan

2016-01-01

Wind speeds in remote areas are sometimes very high, but transmission costs to access these locations can be prohibitive. We present a conceptual model to estimate the economics of accessing high quality wind resources in remote areas to comply with renewable energy policy targets, and apply the model to the Midwestern grid (MISO) as a case study. We assess the goal of providing 40 TWh of new wind generation while minimizing costs, and include temporal aspects of wind power (variability costs and correlation to market prices) as well as total wind power produced from different farms. We find that building wind farms in North/South Dakota (windiest states) compared to Illinois (less windy, but close to load) would only be economical if the incremental transmission costs to access them were below $360/kW of wind capacity (break-even value). Historically, the incremental transmission costs for wind development in North/South Dakota compared to in Illinois are about twice this value. However, the break-even incremental transmission cost for wind farms in Minnesota/Iowa (also windy states) is $250/kW, which is consistent with historical costs. We conclude that wind development in Minnesota/Iowa is likely more economical to meet MISO renewable targets compared to North/South Dakota or Illinois. - Highlights: •We evaluate the economics of building wind farms in remote areas in MISO. •We present a conceptual wind site selection model to meet 40 TWh of new wind. •We use the model to compare remote windy sites to less windy ones closer to load. •We show break-even transmission costs that would justify remote wind development. •Comparing break-even values to historical costs, MN/IA sites are most economical.

Archeology and GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janez Dular

1992-12-01

Full Text Available Concepts of spatial and landscape archaeologu have been accepted within Stepene archaeology for a decade. These concepts are based on the assumption  that man, by his diverse activities, made a tremendous impact on the landscape as a whole. Therefore in the research of archaeological settlement patterns, the whole landscape should be observed and analgzed. Diverse techniques of archaeological survey for data collection were developed and theoretical concepts for interpretation of those data were adapted from geographg, but onlg by applying GIS technology were this concepts made accessible to ali archaeologists. Basic concepts for GIS applications were defined in the research project "The Genesis of the cultural landscape" at the Department of Archaeology of the University of Ljubljana. However, the Hvar Project, as the first archaeological čase study, played the crucial role in acceptance of GIS technology. The analyses were concentrated on the possibilities of GIS applications in archaeo logical analysis. The best results were achieved in definition of archaeological site territories, subsistence strategies, communications and trade analyses. Few regional čase studies were started this gear because it is to be expected that soon the majoritg of the GIS archaeological applications will be in protection and management of cultural heritage. Simultaneously the Institute for Archaeology at the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Art has started with the computerization of the site and monuments database which will be integrated into the state GIS.

Spatial Integration Analysis of Provincial Historical and Cultural Heritage Resources Based on Geographic Information System (gis) — a Case Study of Spatial Integration Analysis of Historical and Cultural Heritage Resources in Zhejiang Province

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, W.; Zhang, J.; Wu, Q.; Chen, J.; Huo, X.; Zhang, J.; Zhang, Y.; Wang, T.

2017-08-01

In China historical and cultural heritage resources include historically and culturally famous cities, towns, villages, blocks, immovable cultural relics and the scenic spots with cultural connotation. The spatial distribution laws of these resources are always directly connected to the regional physical geography, historical development and historical traffic geography and have high research values. Meanwhile, the exhibition and use of these resources are greatly influenced by traffic and tourism and other plans at the provincial level, and it is of great realistic significance to offer proposals on traffic and so on that are beneficial to the exhibition of heritage resources based on the research of province distribution laws. This paper takes the spatial analysis of Geographic Information System (GIS) as the basic technological means and all historical and cultural resources in China's Zhejiang Province as research objects, and finds out in the space the accumulation areas and accumulation belts of Zhejiang Province's historic cities and cultural resources through overlay analysis and density analysis, etc. It then discusses the reasons of the formation of these accumulation areas and accumulation belts by combining with the analysis of physical geography and historical geography and so on, and in the end, linking the tourism planning and traffic planning at the provincial level, it provides suggestions on the exhibition and use of accumulation areas and accumulation belts of historic cities and cultural resources.

IMPLEMENTATION OF GIS-BASED MULTICRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS WITH VB IN ArcGIS

OpenAIRE

DERYA OZTURK; FATMAGUL BATUK

2011-01-01

This article focuses on the integration of multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) and geographical information systems (GIS) and introduces a tool, GIS–MCDA, written in visual basic in ArcGIS for GIS-based MCDA. The GIS–MCDA deals with raster-based data sets and includes standardization, weighting and decision analysis methods, and sensitivity analysis. Simple additive weighting, weighted product method, technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution, compromise programming, a...

Spatial Analysis for Potential Water Catchment Areas using GIS: Weighted Overlay Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Awanda, Disyacitta; Anugrah Nurul, H.; Musfiroh, Zahrotul; Dinda Dwi, N. P.

2017-12-01

The development of applied GIS is growing rapidly and has been widely applied in various fields. Preparation of a model to obtain information is one of the benefits of GIS. Obtaining information for water resources such as water catchment areas is one part of GIS modelling. Water catchment model can be utilized to see the distribution of potential and ability of a region in water absorbing. The use of overlay techniques with the weighting obtained from the literature from previous research is used to build the model. Model builder parameters are obtained through remote sensing interpretation techniques such as land use, landforms, and soil texture. Secondary data such as rock type maps are also used as water catchment model parameters. The location of this research is in the upstream part of the Opak river basin. The purpose of this research is to get information about potential distribution of water catchment area with overlay technique. The results of this study indicate the potential of water catchment areas with excellent category, good, medium, poor and very poor. These results may indicate that the Upper river basin is either good or in bad condition, so it can be used for better water resources management policy determination.

Putting Chronic Disease on the Map: Building GIS Capacity in State and Local Health Departments

Science.gov (United States)

Casper, Michele; Tootoo, Joshua; Schieb, Linda

2013-01-01

Techniques based on geographic information systems (GIS) have been widely adopted and applied in the fields of infectious disease and environmental epidemiology; their use in chronic disease programs is relatively new. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention is collaborating with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors and the University of Michigan to provide health departments with capacity to integrate GIS into daily operations, which support priorities for surveillance and prevention of chronic diseases. So far, 19 state and 7 local health departments participated in this project. On the basis of these participants’ experiences, we describe our training strategy and identify high-impact GIS skills that can be mastered and applied over a short time in support of chronic disease surveillance. We also describe the web-based resources in the Chronic Disease GIS Exchange that were produced on the basis of this training and are available to anyone interested in GIS and chronic disease (www.cdc.gov/DHDSP/maps/GISX). GIS offers diverse sets of tools that promise increased productivity for chronic disease staff of state and local health departments. PMID:23786907

Putting chronic disease on the map: building GIS capacity in state and local health departments.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Marie Lynn; Casper, Michele; Tootoo, Joshua; Schieb, Linda

2013-06-20

Techniques based on geographic information systems (GIS) have been widely adopted and applied in the fields of infectious disease and environmental epidemiology; their use in chronic disease programs is relatively new. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention is collaborating with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors and the University of Michigan to provide health departments with capacity to integrate GIS into daily operations, which support priorities for surveillance and prevention of chronic diseases. So far, 19 state and 7 local health departments participated in this project. On the basis of these participants' experiences, we describe our training strategy and identify high-impact GIS skills that can be mastered and applied over a short time in support of chronic disease surveillance. We also describe the web-based resources in the Chronic Disease GIS Exchange that were produced on the basis of this training and are available to anyone interested in GIS and chronic disease (www.cdc.gov/DHDSP/maps/GISX). GIS offers diverse sets of tools that promise increased productivity for chronic disease staff of state and local health departments.

An economic assessment of tropical cyclone risk on offshore wind farms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hong, Lixuan; Möller, Bernd

2012-01-01

and cost and setting design parameters for offshore wind turbines are then discussed. The impact of tropical cyclones on offshore wind farms likes a double-edged sword, which might be advantageous for some regions in terms of increasing full-loaded hours of turbines, but also disadvantageous for others due....... A probabilistic tropical cyclone event model is applied to evaluate 20-year, 30-year, 50-year and 100-year recurrence of extreme wind speeds by geographical location. Combining a damage model derived from empirical loss data and an investment cost model within a Geographical Information System (GIS), the annual...... to its destructive effects. However, specific design standards and insurance of turbines would help reduce risks and economic losses of offshore wind farms in tropical cyclone-prone areas and expand exploitable locations for future offshore wind farms....

Environmental application for GIS: Assessing Iskandar Malaysia's (IM) sewage sludge for potential biomass resource

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salim, M R; Shaharuddin, N; Halim, K Abdullah

2014-01-01

The low carbon scenario could be achieved through the identification of major sectors contributing to the emission of high greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. Sewage treatment plant (STP) was ranked as one of the major sectors that emits methane gas (CH 4 ) during treatment processes, including sludge treatment. Sludge treatment is also capital extensive with high operational cost. Thus, sewage sludge has been accepted as a nuisance in STP. However, many has claimed that, sludge produced contain organic matter that has the potential for biomass resource. Thus, it would be such a Žwaste? if sludge are directly disposed of into the landfill without utilizing them at its full potential. In order to do so, it is vital to be able to determine the amount of sludge production. This research was implemented in Iskandar Malaysia regions in the state of Johor. By using GIS tool, the regions that produced the most sewage sludge can be determined, and can be group as critical area. Result shows that Nusajaya produces the most, compared to other regions, which indicated Nusajaya as a densely populated region

The reconstruction of easterly wind directions for the Eifel region (Central Europe during the period 40.3–12.9 ka BP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Seelos

2010-03-01

Full Text Available A high resolution continuous reconstruction of last glacial wind directions is based on provenance analysis of eolian sediments in a sediment core from the Dehner dry Maar in the Eifel region (Germany. This Maar is suitable to archive easterly wind directions due to its location west of the Devonian carbonate basins of the Eifel-North-South-Zone. Thus, eolian sediments with high clastic carbonate content can be interpreted as an east wind signal. The detection of such east wind sediments is applied by a new module of the RADIUS grain size analyze technique. The investigated time period from 40.3–12.9 ka BP can be subclassified in three units: The first unit covers the periods of the ending GIS-9, H4, and GIS-8. With the exception of H4 (40–38 ka BP the content of organics in our record is relatively high. With the end of GIS-8 (38–36.5 ka the content of organics decrease and the content of dust increases rapidly. The second time slice (36–24 ka BP has an increased content of dust accumulation and a high amount of east winds layers (up to 19% of the dust storms per century came from the east. In comparison, the subsequent period (24–12.9 ka BP is characterized by lower east wind sediments again. Increased frequencies of east wind occur during the time intervals corresponding with the Heinrich events H1 and H2. The unusual H3 show no higher east wind frequency but so do its former and subsequent Greenland stadials. The late LGM (21–18 ka BP is characterized by a slightly elevated east wind frequency again.

A GIS based watershed information system for water resources management and planning in semi-arid areas

Science.gov (United States)

Tzabiras, John; Spiliotopoulos, Marios; Kokkinos, Kostantinos; Fafoutis, Chrysostomos; Sidiropoulos, Pantelis; Vasiliades, Lampros; Papaioannou, George; Loukas, Athanasios; Mylopoulos, Nikitas

2015-04-01

The overall objective of this work is the development of an Information System which could be used by stakeholders for the purposes of water management as well as for planning and strategic decision-making in semi-arid areas. An integrated modeling system has been developed and applied to evaluate the sustainability of water resources management strategies in Lake Karla watershed, Greece. The modeling system, developed in the framework of "HYDROMENTOR" research project, is based on a GIS modelling approach which uses remote sensing data and includes coupled models for the simulation of surface water and groundwater resources, the operation of hydrotechnical projects (reservoir operation and irrigation works) and the estimation of water demands at several spatial scales. Lake Karla basin was the region where the system was tested but the methodology may be the basis for future analysis elsewhere. Τwo (2) base and three (3) management scenarios were investigated. In total, eight (8) water management scenarios were evaluated: i) Base scenario without operation of the reservoir and the designed Lake Karla district irrigation network (actual situation) • Reduction of channel losses • Alteration of irrigation methods • Introduction of greenhouse cultivation ii) Base scenario including the operation of the reservoir and the Lake Karla district irrigation network • Reduction of channel losses • Alteration of irrigation methods • Introduction of greenhouse cultivation The results show that, under the existing water resources management, the water deficit of Lake Karla watershed is very large. However, the operation of the reservoir and the cooperative Lake Karla district irrigation network coupled with water demand management measures, like reduction of water distribution system losses and alteration of irrigation methods, could alleviate the problem and lead to sustainable and ecological use of water resources in the study area. Acknowledgements: This study

Offshore Wind Energy Market Overview (Presentation)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baring-Gould, I.

2013-07-01

This presentation describes the current international market conditions regarding offshore wind, including the breakdown of installation costs, how to reduce costs, and the physical siting considerations considered when planning offshore wind construction. The presentation offers several examples of international existing and planned offshore wind farm sites and compares existing international offshore resources with U.S. resources. The presentation covers future offshore wind trends and cites some challenges that the United States must overcome before it will be able to fully develop offshore wind sites.

Blowing in the Wind: A Review of Wind Power Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Frank

2014-01-01

The use of wind as a replenishable energy resource has come back into favour in recent decades. It is much promoted as a viable, clean energy option that will help towards reducing CO[subscript 2] emissions in the UK. This article examines the history of wind power and considers the development of wind turbines, together with their economic,…

GIS Application in Atucha I Nuclear Power Plant Exercise Argentina, 2007

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sadaniowski, I.V.; Telleria, D.M.; Jordan, O.D.; Boutet, L.I.; Kunst, J.J.; Bruno, H.A.; Hernandez, D.G.; Rodriguez, M.; Cateriano, M.A.; Rey, H.L.

2011-01-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are tools applied to assist in the assessment and solution of many geographical related issues. Recently, their applications have been extended to the areas of disasters and environmental emergencies. GIS not only could be used as a diagnostic tool. Combined with adequate information and other tools capable to predict the transfer of pollutants in the environment and the associated impacts to the public, GIS could be used to support emergency planning and response. The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) of Argentina has incorporated in 2003 the GIS technology like an innovative resource for its preparation and response activities in emergencies. For this, the NRA acquired the necessary technology (hardware and software) and the technical specialist who were joined to expert's team in the nuclear and radiological emergencies field. The GIS stays operative as support tool in the Emergencies Control Center of NRA. In this paper, the use of GIS as a tool for analysis and advice is presented. The GIS is being used for preparation and development of nuclear emergencies trials and exercises, carried out on-site and off-site at the Nuclear Power Plant Atucha I Buenos Aires, Argentina, in cooperation with civil defense, national and state security and army forces and intensive public involvement. The databases were conformed with information from different sources, including the result of interviews to different actors, as well as other local and national government agencies and forces. Also, educational institutions, local medical centers, etc., were consulted. The information was enriched with outings to field in the surroundings of nuclear power plant. The scope and the detail of the information for this exercise covers 30 kilometers surroundings the nuclear power plant, with a range of significantly different geographical and population conditions. When loading the information in the GIS, a classification scheme is applied and

GIS application in Atucha I nuclear power plant exercise Argentina, 2007

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)