Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts 1 Wind Data Web Site Questionnaire: Background and Preliminary Results Massachusetts Wind Working Group Meeting October 30, 2013 Wind Energy Center Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Background The WEC has been collecting time series meteorological data for many years –Primarily wind, some solar radiation –Over 60 sites in Massachusetts –6 long term sites still operating: Boston Harbor, Hull, Blandford, Paxton, Holyoke, Nantucket Sound Much data publicly available on web site 2

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Wind Data Web Site 3

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Questionnaire Questionnaire developed to ascertain interest in the data and the web site Questionnaire was sent out by to Massachusetts Wind Working Group in early October 4

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Question 1 Are you aware of this data repository? –If yes, have you used any of this data? If so, which sites have you found most useful? –If no, are you now likely to use any of this data? If so, which sites do you expect to be most useful? 5

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Question 2 Are there other types of data that you would find useful? For example  Solar radiation Ocean waves Background sound High elevation wind data (e.g. using LIDAR or SODAR) Temperature or temperature difference (stability) Ice/snow Web camera Bird tracking data Operational data from wind turbines, solar PV arrays, etc. Other? 6

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Question 3 Is there other related material that you would find useful? Some options include: –On-line applications for viewing or processing the data –Tutorials regarding the meaning and use of the data 7

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Preliminary Results Twenty seven responses  –Somewhat over half (52%) of the respondents knew of the data site –Most of those who knew about the site have used data from one or more sites –Of those who indicated that they did not previously know of the data (44%), the majority said that they would now be likely to use or would consider using some of the data in the future 8

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Use of Data All of the long term sites were used by at least two respondents –The most commonly used site was Blandford, followed by Boston Harbor (Thompson Island) A number of the respondents also used historical data from the web site –Data from discontinued monitoring sites 9

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Interest in Other Data Most interest: –The types of other data most desired were background sound (10), operational data from wind turbines or PV systems (9), high elevation wind data (6) and ocean waves (4) Also of interest: –Solar radiation, temperature/stability, ice/snow and bird tracking data 10

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Other Related Material Interest also in: –Other types of data or pre-processing of some of the data, such as wind shear and turbulence at hub height and across rotor face, Fourier transforms of wind data, and high frequency solar data. –On-line applications for viewing or processing the data and/or tutorials regarding the meaning and use of the data 11

Wind Energy Center University of Massachusetts Conclusion Data web site has a number of users –Ongoing long term data –Historical data Substantial interest in adding more types of data or other features to web site. If you have not responded yet, please do! 12