About average wind velocity maps
How were the maps created?
Computer models are used as part of the weather forecasting process. These models produce a snapshot of the current state of the atmosphere before they can produce forecasts. This snapshot is often called an 'analysis'.
The analysis and subsequent predictions are based on data (ground stations, upper air observations, satellites, ships, buoys etc.) from the world's national meteorological services, including Australia. Data are fed into computers, and the wind field and the various other meteorological data fields are calculated at various elevations or levels to represent the physical process or dynamics of the full depth of the atmosphere.
The monthly averages for wind were calculated from the daily computer generated analyses. The 10 metre surface wind field from the model, provided as gridded data, was used to develop these wind climate maps.
The gridded 10 metre wind data were visualised in a geographic information system and the colour maps created through this process.
Data used in the analysis
The average wind velocity maps are based on the Australian Meso-scale Limited Area Prediction System (MesoLAPSPT _125), using data from the years between 2004 to 2008.
Wind velocity metadata
The following metadata metadata file, provide information about the average monthly gridded zonal and meridional 10 metre wind datasets. It describes the content,format,location,analysis technique used, update frequency and contact information about this spatial dataset.
| TITLE: | Average monthly surface wind velocity data |
| DESCRIPTION: | Average monthly wind speed and direction across the Australian region in the form of a two-dimensional array. The mean data are based on the period 2004 to 2008. |
| CUSTODIAN: | Bureau of Meteorology |
| GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT NAMES(s): | Australia |
| AVAILABLE FORMAT TYPE(S): | ASCII row major, Arc/InfoTM grid export(.e00), Shapefiles. |
| SCALE/RESOLUTION | The resolution of the data is 0.125 degrees (approximately 12.5 km) |