NREL introduces upgraded Marine Energy Atlas

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has introduced an upgraded version of Marine Energy Atlas.

New upgrades to the Marine Energy Atlas include a modernized and user-friendly interface and high-resolution data sets, reports NREL. The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office funded the development of the tool.

Search bar, back-end upgrades to support visualizing the high-resolution data sets, tools to download timeseries, and simultaneous layer and legend view are some of the user interface adjustments.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, North Carolina State University, and the University of Hawai developed new wave data sets as a part of NREL’s project. According to NREL, the upgrades will improve the usability and the value of this marine energy tool.

The Marine Energy Atlas maps US wave, tidal, riverine current, ocean current, and ocean thermal resources. Users can analyze different variables including wave height, wave period, wave direction, tidal, and ocean current speeds.

Project developers can use the tool to locate potential project sites, and technology developers can employ the atlas to download data for sites for which they are designing technology.