POWER Wind Data Description
The Plains Organization For Wind Energy Resources (POWER) program through the Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota processed the raw wind data for the Colorado ALP sites until June 30, 2007. The data files generated by the POWER program took the following format:
Description of Field Names
The first two letters indicate the sensor type. There are three possible sensors:
- WS - wind speed sensor
- WD - wind direction sensor
- TT - air temperature sensor
The numbers that follow the sensor identifier indicate the height (in meters) above ground
of the sensor. If any letters follow the height, they will signify the position of the sensor
relative to the tower. Eight possible positions exist for each sensor.
- N - north
- NE - northeast
- E - east
- SE - southeast
- S - south
- SW - southwest
- W - west
- NW - northwest
For example, WS10NW indicates that the sensor measures wind speed at a height 10
meters above ground, and it is located on the northwest side of the tower.
Fields that end with "FLAG" or "SD" refer to Data Quality or Standard Deviations,
respectively.
Data quality is determined through both automated and manual analyses. Specific values
are used to indicate the condition of the data. The condition of each datum may change
over time as new information about the datum is discovered.
Value |
Description |
0 |
Good |
-1 |
Failed Range Test |
-2 |
Suspect |
-3 |
Bad Sensor |
-4 |
Icing Event |
-5 |
Tower Shadowing |
-6 |
Failed Voltage Test |
-7 |
Missing Data |
-8 |
Speed less than Wind Speed at Lower Height |
Standard Deviation Fields
Standard deviation is used as a measure of dispersion in a collection of data. A small
standard deviation indicates that the data are closely correlated. A large standard deviation
means that the data are loosely correlated.
|
