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Estimations of the potential generation resource of wind power happens at all scales from very coarse global estimates, to detailed estimates at individual sites based on specific locations and specific choices of turbine. And this happens at different timescales, from seconds to decades; and both onshore and offshore. It happens in real-time for forecasting minutes, hours, days ahead; and it can happen for farms not yet developed, as part of the design process.

What part of that process of estimating wind resource has the potential greatest benefit from further research?

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  • While measuring the resource is an important step in siting a wind farm, we are no where close to utilizing a signficant fraction of the resource. So, at present, the best bang for the buck is coming up with a cheap way to assess the wind resource at a given location. At present the usual way requires putting up a mast up to the height of the potential tower, and instrumenting it for at least a year, then comparing that year to the wind history at nearby weather station for a decade or two to see that the measured year was typical. – Sherwood Botsford Jan 15 '17 at 18:22
  • This site windexchange.energy.gov has "resources to help communities weigh the benefits and impacts of wind energy." – FreeText Jan 11 '19 at 0:47

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