OFFSHORE WIND RESOURCE ASSESSMENT ON THE WEST COAST OF AWAJI ISLAND (COMPARISON BETWEEN IN-SITU AND WRF-SIMULATED WIND SPEEDS)

Abstract

This study investigates the performance of offshore wind simulation with the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF), using in-situ measurements from an onshore met mast and Galion scanning Lidars. A comparison with observations shows that the accuracy of WRF-simulated wind speed depends on the distance from coast and wind direction. It is also found that WRF underestimates a horizontal wind speed gradient in the shore-normal direction. This fact indicates that there is a risk that offshore wind resource can be underestimated, when it is estimated by using the WRF-simulated horizontal wind speed gradient together with the onshore met mast measurements.