Anemometer height changes, averaging one per decade at stations with over 10 years of record, required homogenization for climatological analysis. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information processed these hourly wind observations from U.S. stations, with coverage expanding from a few stations in 1931 to nearly 1000 by 1985. The dataset's record ends in the year 2000.
Use Cases
- Analyze long-term wind speed trends using the homogenized U10g (10m above ground) or U10s (10m above surface) speed series.
- Model the impact of anemometer height changes (Ha) and snow depth (Hsnod) on recorded wind speed (Ua).
- Assess station network density over time, from about 200 stations during WWII to roughly 350 from 1948-1972.
- Study surface roughness (z0) as a function of snow cover at individual station sites.
Strengths
- Data spans 70 years from 1931 to 2000, enabling long-term climate studies.
- Wind speeds are homogenized to account for documented anemometer height changes, a necessary step for accurate analysis.
- Station network grew to nearly 1000 qualified locations by 1985, providing broad spatial coverage for the contiguous United States.
Limitations
- Data is temporally stale, with the last recorded observations from the year 2000.
- Early years (e.g., 1931) contain very few stations, limiting spatial analysis for that period.
- The specific formulae for homogenization require understanding of meteorological parameters like surface roughness (z0).
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), dataset DSI-6421.
- Collection Method
- Homogenization of raw hourly wind station observations using metadata on anemometer height and snow depth.
- Time Range
- 1931 to 2000
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Contiguous United States