Q. How can I use Surfer to make a wind resource map of an area?
A. You can export a Surfer grid file directly from a resource grid window in WAsP. Grids can be exported containing elevation, mean wind speed, mean power density, annual energy production (if a wind turbine generator is associated), Weibull A-value, Weibull k-value and ruggedness index RIX.
Golden Software's Surfer program can also read and utilize WAsP's wind farm (RSF) and resource grid files (WRG) directly. In the Grid menu of Surfer, choose Data and enter the name of the wind farm or resource grid file. You will then get the message "File type not recognised!". Choose 'ASCII Data (.TXT)' and press the 'Ok' button. You may then get the message "Surfer error: Current data columns do not contain 3 or more distinct XYZ points". Disregard this message and carry on, specifying the Data Columns used for the X and Y coordinates and the wind power density/power production: column B contains the X coordinate, column C the Y coordinate and column H the power density or power production. Surfer can now make a grid from the data in the usual way – and a map of the wind resource can be made.
You can also make Surfer recognize these file types by adding the following two lines to the file Surfer32.ini – in the [GS Worksheet Import Filters] section – using a text editor like Notepad:
WAsP Wind Farm=WSIDAT32.DLL;RSF;GSdata
WAsP Resource Grid=WSIDAT32.DLL;WRG;GSdata