The NEWA Mesoscale Wind Atlas: production and ensemble runs

A central part of the New European Wind Atlas (NEWA) is the generation of a mesoscale wind atlas which is based on 30 years of simulations with the WRF (Weather Research and Forecast) model. The atlas will cover all EU countries (plus Norway, Switzerland, the Balkans and Turkey) and associated offshore areas up to 100 km off the coast including the complete North and Baltic Seas.The first part of the presentation gives an overview of the work that was done to prepare the mesoscale wind atlas production runs. To arrive at a final model configuration for the production run, a large ensemble of nearly 50 WRF simulations with different model setups was performed. The parameters tested in the ensemble members include, among others: model version, atmospheric and sea surface temperature input, land surface model as well as surface and PBL parameterisations. Information from the ensemble runs will also be used to provide uncertainty information to the wind atlas.After presenting the final setup of the production runs, some information is given about the management of the production runs, which were performed on the Tier-0 supercomputer MareNostrum. Finally, results from the production runs are shown.