Average Wind Speeds 2003-50 m height

Mean average wind speeds in metres per second (m/s) at 50 m height. These datasets cover the land area and coastal waters of Ireland. Data Compilation was completed in 2003. Zipped collections of shapefiles are available in two Spatial reference or coordinate systems: 1) Irish transverse Mercator (ITM, EPSG:2157) 2) WGS 84 Web Mercator (EPSG:3857) The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) offers the same data in its Wind Atlas, a digital map of Ireland’s wind energy resource (http://gis.seai.ie/wind). SEAI’s 2003 datasets of wind characteristics assist wind energy Planners, developers and policymakers. __Background on 2003 wind maps__ The 2003 wind-mapping project was completed by ESB International and TrueWind Solutions for SEAI (then SEI). It predicted wind characteristics, at heights of 50 m, 75 m and 100 m, Spanning onshore and offshore. (Larger heights of 125 m and 150 m were later covered in SEAI’s 2013 wind-mapping project.) The resulting GIS maps cover onshore in 200 m grids, and offshore in 400 m grids. Generally, wind maps extend to 15 km offshore, or occasionally 20 km. About the 2003 methodology, it iterated a MesoMap system and a faster WindMap model through reducing grid sizes. MesoMap is built on MASS (Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System), a numerical weather model that embodied the fundamental physics of the atmosphere. Iterations through the nested grids accounted for local land elevation, land cover and roughness. Final iterations accounted for increased wind shear and reduced near-surface wind speed at less Windy sites. The 2003 Wind-mapping Project Report is available [here](https://seaiopendata.blob.core.windows.net/wind/Report_2003_Wind_Atlas.pdf).