Data Quality and Evaluation

This page summarises available information on accuracy, uncertainty, validation, known gaps, caveats, and version history for the Energy Indicators application.

Current evaluation status

The available evaluation material currently focuses on IFS-NEMO historical simulations. The IFS-NEMO indicators have been compared with ERA5-indicators for the historical period, including:

  • Wind speed distribution at 100 m hub height.

  • Low wind events, defined as wind speed at 100 m below the 3 m s⁻¹ cut-in speed.

The full IFS-NEMO evaluation is available in Energy Indicators for IFS-NEMO.

Model-specific evaluation pages

Known gaps, anomalies, and caveats

  • IFS-NEMO projections are currently under evaluation.

  • IFS-FESOM Energy Indicators are currently under evaluation.

  • ICON Energy Indicators are not currently available because wind speed at 100 m height is not available in the ICON simulations.

  • Among global reanalyses, ERA5 has demonstrated superior agreement with in situ observations; Ramon et al. (2019) [Ramon et al., 2019] have shown that ERA5 surface winds have reproduced observed variability better than a multi-reanalysis mean at over one-third of tall tower sites worldwide. Its reliability for wind resource estimation has also been validated across heterogeneous sites, with good performance at offshore and flat terrains but notable limitations in complex topography and coastal regions (Gualtieri, 2021) [Gualtieri, 2021].

  • Data gaps and date inconsistencies have been identified in the IFS-NEMO daily maxima and some monthly indicators. They are currently being fixed and will be re-uploaded when ready. A detailed list of the dates with such inconsistencies can be found here.

Version history and change logs

Application version used for the operational cycle o25.1 is 2.0.2. Version history and updated can be found in the application changelog in the package documentation page energy_indicators on GitHub.

Usage of bias adjustment and control simulations

Bias adjustment has not been applied in the operational production of the indicators. The usage of the control simulations will be detailed in the sections on scientific analysis together with the analysis of the indicators.