The NORA3 atmosphere hindcast data are remotely accessed using the OPeNDAP framework and the THREDDS Data Server of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute [1]. The data can be extracted for multiple latitudes and longitudes and stored in a gridded format. Atmospheric data are retrieved for seven different heights, from 10 m to 750 m above the surface. The mean wind speed profile can be interpolated using a non-linear scheme based on the Deaves and Harris model [2,3]. Above the ocean, sea roughness is modeled using the Charnock relation. A summary of the NORA3 data and their potential is available in [4]. This code was used to extract the data used in [5].
The getNORA3_subset function specifically accesses subsets of the NORA3 data (monthly storage), increasing data collection by a factor of x10 or more. However, these subsets do not contain profiles of temperature.
The present submission contains:
getNORA3.m: A function that imports the NORA3 hindcast from [1].getNORA3_subset.m: A function accessing subsets of NORA3 for enhanced data collection. Note: This subset does not include temperature profiles.getz0_charnock.m: A function estimating sea surface roughness using Charnock's equation and the logarithmic profile of the mean wind speed.interpU.m: A function interpolating the mean wind speed using The Deaves and Harris model [2,3].world.mat: A data file containing the coastline of countries (used for visualization purposes only).Documentation.mlx: A Matlab LiveScript illustrating how these functions can be used.Documentation2.mlx: A second Matlab LiveScript illustrating how these functions can be used.Documentation3-subset.mlx: A third Matlab LiveScript illustrating getNORA3_subset works. Note that the surface temperature seems a little different here.
Any comments, questions, or suggestions are welcome.
NORA3 Atmosphere is a convection-permitting atmospheric hindcast of the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea for the atmosphere which is produced by running the non-hydrostatic HARMONIE-AROME model (Seity et al., 2011); Bengtsson et al., 2017); Müller et al., 2017) with 3 km horizontal resolution and 65 vertical levels. The model runs 9 hourly forecasts four times a day. Each forecast starts from an assimilated state of the last forecast adapted to surface observations. Model levels are forced with ERA-5. The NORA3 archive is produced and maintained by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. See [6-7] for further details on the atmospheric hindcast.
[2] Harris, R. I., & Deaves, D. M. (1980, November). The structure of strong winds, wind engineering in the eighties. In Proc. CIRIA Conf.
[3] ESDU. (1985). ESDU 85020-Characteristics of atmospheric turbulence near the ground. Part II: single point data for strong winds (neutral atmosphere).
[4] Solbrekke, I. M., Sorteberg, A., & Haakenstad, H. (2021). Norwegian hindcast archive (NORA3)–A validation of offshore wind resources in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea. Wind Energy Science Discussions, 1-31.
[5] Cheynet, E., Solbrekke, I. M., Diezel, J. M., & Reuder, J. A one-year comparison of new wind atlases over the North Sea. Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2362 (1), 012009
[6] Haakenstad, H., Breivik, Ø., Furevik, B. R., Reistad, M., Bohlinger, P., & Aarnes, O. J. (2021). NORA3: A nonhydrostatic high-resolution hindcast of the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 60(10), 1443-1464.
[7] Haakenstad, H., & Breivik, Ø. (2022). NORA3. Part II: Precipitation and temperature statistics in complex terrain modeled with a nonhydrostatic model. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 61(10), 1549-1572.
