Wind energy mapping from synthetic aperture radar

Satellite based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements from, e.g. ERS-1/ERS-2 can be used for wind energy mapping in coastal regions for wind mill siting. The SAR has clear advantages for high spatial resolution wind field mapping since it is independent of daylight and clouds. The spatial resolution of 30 m is sufficient as is the 100 km wide and several hundred km long spatial coverage along the coastline. Wind maps generated from SAR will be able to provide spatial information about wind energy with a resolution of 400 m. However, before SAR can be used operational for wind energy mapping, the method needs validation and potential limitations must be investigated and described in detail