Time Series Data

Time series data sets from UL Solutions can help you better understand the wind resource and energy production potential for your wind project site. Available through the Windnavigator platform, use the wind map to select a location and order historical time series data or virtual met mast data to help you establish long-term wind conditions with onsite measurements, or perform analysis when onsite data is not available.

Time Series Products

Typical Year Virtual Met Mast

TY-VMM

Generate a full-year synthetic wind dataset based on long-term climate models. Typical Year Virtual Met Mast data set is used to estimate the wind resource and energy production potential of a site when onsite measurements are not available.

Key Features

Hourly wind speed, direction and shear profile data: Provides a highly detailed breakdown on wind conditions, helping refine energy yield estimates for proposed wind farms.
Diurnal and seasonal wind variability for energy forecasting: Helps developers understand how wind speed fluctuations impact annual energy production.
Custom hub heights for turbine-specific analysis: Offers wind projections at multiple heights, assisting in your turbine selection and placement.

Global reanalysis data for long-term wind assessments

MCP Analysis Ready

Accurately forecast with long-term wind datasets spanning 10-35+ years from industry-leading reanalysis models. Historical time series data sets are used to perform measure-correlate-predict (MCP) for the purpose of establishing long-term wind conditions with a meteorological tower or remote-sensing system.

Available Sources

MERRA-2, ERA5, CFSR global reanalysis data
Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model data
Data spans 10 to 35+ years depending on source

Data Sources

Global Reanalysis Data

Available for download from public sources including MERRA-2 and ERA5, covering anywhere in the world and spanning 1979 to the present.

  • Global coverage with decades of historical data
  • Multiple height levels and meteorological parameters

WRF Model Data

Produced on UL Solutions high-performance computing cluster using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model initialized by ERA5.

  • High-resolution 3km or 9km grid spacing
  • Choose 10 or 20-year periods
  • Temporal resolution of 1 hour, 15-minute or 10-minute
  • Enhanced parameters including turbulence and solar data
  • Up to 10 points within a single WRF order

Data Specifications Comparison

Parameter MERRA-2 ERA5 CFSR WRF TY-VMM
Regional coverage Global Global Global Global Continents
Heights above ground 50m 10m, 100m 22m 10-120m 10-140m
Horizontal resolution 70km 30km 55km 3km or 9km 200m
Frequency 1 hour 1 hour 6 hour 1 hour 1 hour
Period 1980 - present 1979 - present 1979 - present 10 years ago - present 365 days sampled
Standard Parameters
Wind speed ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Wind direction ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Temperature ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Pressure ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Advanced Parameters
Air density - - ✓ ✓ ✓
Turbulence intensity - - - ✓ ✓
Stability class - - - ✓ -
Solar (GHI, DNI, cloud fraction) - - - ✓ -
Relative humidity - - - ✓ ✓
Precipitation rate - - - ✓ -
Model elevation & surface roughness - - - ✓ ✓
Data format CSV

Universal CSV Format

All time series data sets are provided in a universal CSV format that can be imported directly into spreadsheets, Openwind, Windographer, and other plant design and resource assessment software.

Register for Free and Start Ordering

Create your free UL Renewables account to access the Windnavigator platform and order historical time series or virtual met mast data you need.
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