Characterizing the wind resource is much more than just measuring wind speeds. In fact, the physics of the atmosphere is governed by a complex interplay of different quantities, temperature being one of the most important. We used a new technology to remotely sense temperature profiles around wind farms at AWAKEN. Here, we discuss the methodology and guide readers through a comprehensive, step-by-step validation effort to quantify the accuracy of temperature profiling for wind energy.

Entrainment is key in understanding temperature and moisture changes within the boundary layer, but it is difficult to observe using ground-based observations. This work used simulations to verify an assumption that simplifies entrainment estimations from ground-based observational data, recognizing that entrainment is the combination of the transfer of heat and moisture from above the boundary layer into it and the change in concentration of heat and moisture as boundary layer depth changes.

Adding more renewable energy into the electric grid is a critical part of the strategy to increase energy availability. Reliable numerical weather prediction (NWP) models need to be able to predict the intrinsic nature of weather-dependent resources such as wind ramp events, as wind energy could quickly be available in abundance or temporarily cease to exist. We assess the ability of the operational High Resolution Rapid Refresh NWP model to forecast wind ramp events in the two most recent versions.

Many atmospheric science endeavors require temporally resolved profiles of temperature, humidity, and winds. Radiosondes are considered the gold standard for measuring these profiles, but the temporal resolution is frequently too coarse for many applications within the atmospheric boundary layer. This study proposes a new method using a normalized height grid in the temporal interpolation process that yields more accurate profiles in the convective boundary layer.

Satellites have observed Earth's emissions of infrared radiation since the 1970s. Because infrared wavelengths interact with the atmosphere in distinct ways, these observations contain information about Earth and the atmosphere. We present a tool that runs within Earth system models and produces output that can be directly compared with satellite measurements of infrared radiation. We then use this tool for climate model evaluation, climate change detection, and satellite mission design.