3TIER Support
What wind speeds are shown on the map?
The Map Controller shows the annual mean wind speed at your selected hub height. Since the numbers shown are averages, they combine both windy and non-windy periods. As a rough estimate, an annual mean wind speed of 4.5 m/s (10 mph) is usually considered the cut-off for a grid-connected residential system to be economically viable.
The color overlay on the map allows you to compare different regions using the color scale located on the left side of the Annual Mean Wind Speed tool. "Warm" colors like brown and orange indicate higher wind speeds. "Cool" colors like purple and blue indicate lower wind speeds. You can select different overlays based on the particular hub height you are interested in: 20 meters, 50 meters, and 80 meters.
More Wind Prospecting Tools Questions
- How do I enter a location?
- What does the Annual Mean Wind Speed Tool provide?
- How do I interpret the graph provided by the Monthly Mean Wind Speed Tool?
- How do I interpret the wind rose provided by the Annual Mean Wind Rose Tool?
- What does the Wind Speed Distribution Tool provide?
- Why do we show a +/- next to the annual value?
- How can I compare sites side-by-side?
- What affects wind at a given site?
- How do I change locations for individual tools?
- What is a hub height?
- What makes a good wind resource?
- What is a wind resource assessment?
- What do the colors on the map mean?
- What is the source of the information?
- How accurate are the Wind Prospecting Tools?
- Which Internet browsers does the 3TIER website support?
- Why does the map disappear?
- How was the 5 km global wind dataset created?
- Does 3TIER incorporate observational data?
- What were 3TIER's data validation procedures for the 5 km global wind dataset?
If you didn't find what you were looking for, please contact 3TIER Support for additional assistance.

