Valuable Data for the Wind Power Industry
Research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Earth Science Enterprise is complementing the development of offshore wind power in the USA. The American space agency is experimenting with a new technology to measure surface-level sea winds from orbit. Created for monitoring marine weather conditions in general, this technique could evolve into an operational system that would supply valuable data to the wind power industry. Not surprisingly, a high vantage point may offer the best view for offshore wind information.By Avery Sen, Policy Analyst and ORISE Fellow, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration