No new long-term correction methods have appeared for years and it is possible that current techniques are optimal. There are several issues which affect any long-term correction analysis:

… from the mundane: the optimum reference period? how do we measure success? re-analysis data or ground based stations? non-integer years of data?

… to the exotic: atmospheric stability, climate change decadal variations, sun spots activity and solar cycles.

It is likely that long-term correction techniques which consider these may provide more reliable predictions than has previously been possible.

This session describes new long-term correction methodologies and compares the results with those of conventional methods. Innovative techniques to improve the representativeness of long-term data series are discussed, different long-term data series are compared and conclusions on the decadal-scale variability of the wind speed are presented. The overall objective of this session is to give insight on how these developments contribute to a greater certainty in future wind speed predictions.

Learning objectives

• Evaluate innovative methods to improve the representativeness of long-term data series and the overall accuracy of long-term extrapolations
• Compare new long-term correction methods to traditional methods
• Understand how a more accurate description of the decadal-scale variability of the wind speed contributes to the reduction of the uncertainty in the long-term corrected wind speed