Wind resource assessment handbook: Fundamentals for conducting a successful monitoring program

This handbook presents industry-accepted guidelines for planning and conducting a wind resource measurement program to support a wind energy feasibility initiative. These guidelines, which are detailed and highly technical, emphasize the tasks of selecting, installing, and operating wind measurement equipment, as well as collecting and analyzing the associated data, once one or more measurement sites are located. The handbook's scope encompasses state-of-the-art measurement and analysis techniques at multiple heights on tall towers (e.g., 40 m) for a measurement duration of at least one year. These guidelines do not represent every possible method of conducting a quality wind measurement program, but they address the most important elements based on field-proven experience. The intended audience for this handbook is any organization or individual who desires the planning framework and detailed procedures for conducting a formally structured wind measurement program. Personnel from the management level to field technicians will find this material applicable. The organizational aspects of a measurement program, including the setting of clear program objectives and designing commensurate measurement and quality assurance plans, all of which are essential to ensuring the program's successful outcome, are emphasized. Considerable attention is also given to the details of actually conducting the measurement program in its many aspects, from selecting instrumentation that meets minimum performance standards to analyzing and reporting on the collected data. 5 figs., 15 tabs