Primary Uses
- Utility-scale prospecting
- Utility-scale lead qualification
- Small-scale marketing and sales tools
- Small-scale customer and public educational tools
3TIER's wind and solar datasets provide in-depth resource data for any location worldwide. Our online maps and data products have become the 'go-to' tools for utility-scale developers needing to quickly vet potential project locations. They have also assisted residential and commercial-scale renewable energy installers and manufactures by helping them educate customers on the value of on-site renewable resources to inform hardware and installation decisions and calculate returns-on-investment.
3TIER's Prospecting API (Application Programming Interface) enables you to integrate our scientifically derived, third party resource data into your own internal applications and customer experiences. You can use the API to build revenue-generating applications and mash-ups including:
The Prospecting API accesses 3TIER's global data using simple REST calls. It is an open, standards based, XML programming interface. To make integration simple and quick, 3TIER provides detailed developer documentation, programming examples, and sample code.
In addition to 3TIER's basic API configuration, we can also provide extended information, including:
To produce the global wind dataset, 3TIER implemented an innovative physics-based modeling approach. Unlike traditional models that merely interpolate observed wind speeds between widely dispersed points, 3TIER's system integrates statistical methods with the power of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models, which simulate the interaction between the atmosphere and the earth's surface, to create a more robust and accurate wind climatology.
3TIER's technique captures the myriad processes responsible for wind—from jet level dynamics to surface level processes and everything in between. Using proven, state-of-the-art techniques continually enhanced by the global atmospheric science and research community, 3TIER is able to create realistic wind fields throughout the world.
The difference between annual mean wind speed data provided by the Prospecting API and actual on-site measurements from NCAR/NCEP reanalysis is less than 0.5 m/s at 50% of the observational stations and less than 1 m/s at 78% of the stations. The overall bias is +0.05 m/s relative to NCEP-ADP observations, and the RMSE (Root Mean Squared Error) is 0.93 m/s. Find our validation papers here.
If you are unfamiliar with the technical terminology on this page, please visit our Glossary for more information.
