Wind Atlas Methodology

The central point in the wind transformation model of WAsP – the so-called Wind Atlas Methodology – is the concept of a Regional or Generalized Wind Climate, or Wind Atlas. This Generalized Wind Climate is the hypothetical wind climate for an ideal, featureless and completely flat terrain with a uniform surface roughness, assuming the same overall atmospheric conditions as those of the measuring position.

The basic "machine" of WAsP is a flow model, representing the effect of different terrain features:

  • terrain height variations
  • terrain roughness
  • sheltering obstacles
To deduce the Generalized Wind Climate from measured wind in actual terrain the WAsP flow model is used reversely, to remove the local terrain effects.

To deduce the wind climate at a location of interest from the Generalized Wind Climate, the WAsP flow model is used to introduce the effect of terrain features.

The concept of the Regional Wind Climate links the wind data from a measuring mast to the predicted wind climate and wind resources at locations of interest, typically a candidate site for a wind turbine or a wind farm.

https://www.wasp.dk/wasp/wind-atlas-generation/wind-atlas-methodology
21 SEPTEMBER 2023