The FINO Dataset: Over20-years of Oceanographic and MeteorologicalMonitoring in Offshore Wind FarmEnvironments

In January 2002 the project "Research Platforms in the North and Baltic Sea" (FINO) was initiated by the German Federal Government. Within this project, three research platforms were constructed for long-term, high-resolution monitoring adjacent to planned and operational wind farms. Two of the platforms are located in the North Sea and one in the Baltic Sea. The research platforms have been collecting a comprehensive, multi-parameter dataset comprising oceanographic and meteorological variables. Therefore, these platforms deliver a continuous dataset of environmental measurements before, during and after offshore wind farm construction.

In this contribution, we provide an overview of this long-term dataset, including guidance on its access and usage. The dataset is freely accessible via the data portals of the German Federal Maritime Agency (BSH, Insitu-Portal) and the Copernicus Marine Service (CMS), offering a unique resource for research in climate change, meteorology, oceanography, and renewable energy.

The dataset is widely used for model validation, interdisciplinary research, and operational decision-making by offshore wind farm operators. Its long-term, high-resolution nature makes it particularly valuable for assessing environmental impacts of offshore wind farms and supporting the transition towards sustainable energy.