EMS Annual Meeting Abstracts
Vol. 23, EMS2026-314, 2026, updated on 22 Jun 2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/ems2026-314
EMS Annual Meeting 2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Oral | Tuesday, 08 Sep, 11:30–11:45 (CEST)| Room Quest
The MiRadOr Project: enhancing the assessment of offshore wind resources with microwave radiometers
Hannes Juchem1, Justin Shenolikar1, Jule Schrepfer1, Feifei Mu1, Julia Gottschall2, Harald Czekala3, Dominico Cimini4, Saverio Teodosio Nilo4, and Stephanie Fiedler1
Hannes Juchem et al.
  • 1Institute of Environmental Physics, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
  • 2Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems, Bremerhaven, Germany
  • 3RPG Radiometer Physics GmbH, Meckenheim, German
  • 4Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Metodologie per l’analisi Ambientale, L’Aquila, Italy

According to the International Energy Agency, global wind energy capacity is expected to double between 2024 and 2030. Offshore wind developments are a major driver of this increase, with capacity predicted to quadruple over the period. This rapid development of capacity is driven by governments in Europe and elsewhere to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources, in the face of intensifying climate change.

In order to maximize the economic value of these installations, research is needed to understand cost-optimized wind farm layouts and operational strategies. In this context, we present the Microwave Radiometer for the Detection and Assessment of Offshore Wind Resources (MiRadOr) project. MiRadOr assesses the value of use of Microwave Radiometer (MWR) technologies in an operational wind energy context, with a focus on atmospheric stability and offshore applications. The project combines a new months-long MWR observational dataset from the Dutch Meteorological Service’s (KNMI) atmospheric research station in Cabauw, the Netherlands, co-located with supporting observations from a 200 m tall meteorological mast and a Doppler-wind Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system.

During the month of March in 2026, the MWR observations were supplemented by a period of intensive observations (IOP), featuring approximately 100 radiosonde ascent profiles, recording temperature, pressure, relative humidity, wind speed and direction. We compare these profiles against those retrieved by the MWR, LiDAR and meteorological mast over the month, including stability-relevant weather events such as cyclones and front systems. In particular, we focus on the observations of Low-level Jets (LLJs): fast moving masses of air, close to the surface (typically within the first 300 m) which are highly relevant to wind energy operations. Additionally, we compare radiosonde and other observations with forecast products from KNMI, DWD (the German Weather Service) and the ECMWF’s integrated forecast system.

How to cite: Juchem, H., Shenolikar, J., Schrepfer, J., Mu, F., Gottschall, J., Czekala, H., Cimini, D., Nilo, S. T., and Fiedler, S.: The MiRadOr Project: enhancing the assessment of offshore wind resources with microwave radiometers, EMS Annual Meeting 2026, Utrecht, Netherlands, 6–11 Sep 2026, EMS2026-314, https://doi.org/10.5194/ems2026-314, 2026.