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Table 5.4. Hydro-meteorological and/or Climate Parameters and Select Energy Uses Hydro-meteorological and/or climate parameter
Selected energy sector uses
Air temperature
Turbine production efficiency, air source generation potential and output, demand (cooling/heating), demand simulation/modeling, solar PV panel efficiency
Rainfall
Hydro-generation potential and efficiency, biomass production, demand, demand simulation/modeling
Wind speed and/or direction
Wind generation potential and efficiency, demand, demand simulation/ modeling
Cloudiness
Solar generation potential, demand, demand simulation/modeling
Snowfall and ice accretion
Power line maintenance, demand, demand simulation/modeling
Humidity
Demand, demand simulation/modeling
Short-wave radiation
Solar generation potential and output, output modeling, demand, demand simulation/modeling
River flow
Hydro-generation and potential, hydro-generation modeling (including dam control), power station cooling water demands
Coastal wave height and frequency, and statistics
Wave generation potential and output, generation modeling, off-shore infrastructure protection and design
Sub-surface soil temperatures
Ground source generation potential and output
Flood statistics
Raw material production and delivery, infrastructure protection and design, cooling water demands
Drought statistics
Hydro-generation output, demand
Storm statistics (includes strong winds, heavy rain, hail, lightning)
Infrastructure protection and design, demand surges
Sea level
Offshore operations
Source: Generated by authors.
Numerous sources of these data are available for a range of time scales, both historical and as predicted for the future, as listed in Table 5.5. Locations of global data received on one particular day in 2007 at European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) (Reading, UK) are shown in Figure 5.1, which illustrates (clockwise from top left): surface, aircraft, orbiting satellites, stationary satellites. Data-sparse areas over the continents stand out as blank areas in the surface plot, over Africa in particular, and while data for these areas can be in-filled using information from the satellites, doing so creates a Catch-22 situation, as it cannot be done to high quality without using concurrent in situ data (Tribbia and Troccoli, 2008). The forms in which hydro-meteorological/climate information is typically provided to the energy (and for that ma er, most other) sector(s) are as presented in Table 5.6.