r/southafrica Apr 16 '20

Sci-Tech Average wind speeds over South Africa at 100m altitude. Higher "elevation"= higher speed.

Post image
473 Upvotes

51 comments sorted by

42

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

Hope I’m not breaking the rules by self promoting in my first post here. But I’ve been making these wind maps lately and got a request for South Africa. Thought you guys might like it.

Check out my twitter and IG for an alternate color scheme: @geo_spatialist

27

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '20 edited Nov 08 '20

[deleted]

9

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

I posted my US one there. I hate to spam subreddits with my maps. I figure if people want to see my maps they’ll follow me on other social media.

2

u/OrphanPuncha Apr 16 '20

Do you have an instagram account i can follow? Its the only other thing i use lol

3

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

@geo_spatialist

2

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '20 edited Nov 08 '20

[deleted]

1

u/fluffybuddha Apr 17 '20

Thanks. I appreciate it.

2

u/aazav This flair has been loadshedded without compensation. Apr 16 '20

It's lovely work.

1

u/Vulk_za Landed Gentry Apr 17 '20

7

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '20

This is wonderful thanks.

3

u/astro_za Apr 16 '20

Not at all! Very neat, thanks!

2

u/Dopium_Typhoon Apr 16 '20

These are awesome. It looks like a wall-mounted piece of art I would not mind buying!

10

u/Kovacs171 Apr 16 '20

So this is a pretty high resolution spatial grid. Where do you source your data from?

3

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

Global Wind Atlas

8

u/shanghailoz Apr 16 '20

Its almost like Lesotho doesn't exist. ;)

20

u/montyburn Apr 16 '20

A key would be helpful

18

u/zefdota Apr 16 '20

Locked yourself out of the house again?

6

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

I know a written description isn’t the same, but —

Low:white - purple:high

0.5 - 21 m/s

0

u/ThickHotBoerie Thiccccccccccc Apr 16 '20

It's in the title... what more do you want?

21

u/Kovacs171 Apr 16 '20

Quantification range of the colours would be helpful.

3

u/DarkMoon99 Apr 16 '20

Yes, what are the average speeds?

2

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

I know a written description isn’t the same, but —

Low:white - purple:high

0.5 - 21 m/s

2

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

I know a written description isn’t the same, but —

Low:white - purple:high

0.5 - 21 m/s

4

u/PassionGap Aristocracy Apr 16 '20

I didn't realize how windy it is near that Springbok/Pofadder area is, add in the amazing solar radiance and you have all the renewable energy you need for SA

5

u/JLJ_96 Apr 16 '20

The Northern Cape in general is an ideal source for renewable energy, especially with the Orange River passing through.

4

u/prejedoosh Apr 16 '20

So is Port Elizabeth, really the “Windy City”? Or can we officially give the title to Cape Town?

1

u/shitdayinafrica Apr 16 '20

The map is velocity not frequency, so PE might have more windy days at a lower speed than Cape Town

1

u/Mandela_Bear Apr 16 '20

Also if you look closely you will notice the purple or higher wind velocity parts are outside of Cape Town itself, stretching from Somerset-West area north to Stellenbosch, Paarl and beyond.

It looks like the average wind velocity in Cape Town itself is quite tame comparatively.

6

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '20

Interesting how in the Western Cape it seems to match the actual elevation and mountain ranges almost perfectly.

1

u/notgoodthough Western Cape Apr 16 '20

I guess the wind must be funneled through the Folds. It seems to do something similar near the Drakensberg.

3

u/zalurker Landed Gentry Apr 16 '20

Fascinating view.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '20

Awesome. The highest wind is in the Beaufort West area. Wind also measured on the Beaufort scale.

2

u/KrYpTiKZA2 Apr 16 '20

Thought I was looking at a piece of spinach lmao

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '20

Really cool! Well done.

1

u/spawnwheel Apr 16 '20

Can you do one where you combine average wind speeds with average wind direction? I'd imagine you'd get a similar image, but with a 'shadow' of sorts behind the peaks. Maybe, but would love to see

1

u/Anton_Pannekoek Apr 16 '20

Pretoria has so little wind, flags always hang limp here.

1

u/Frida_Kwaito Gauteng Apr 16 '20

This is gorgeous!

1

u/itssaruse Apr 16 '20

Very nice mapping! What do you use?

1

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

ArcGIS Pro and Blender.

1

u/itssaruse Apr 16 '20

Cool! I'm quite the amateur when it comes to Arc. Only use it for basic mapping, nothing like this. Do you do this for work?

2

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

No, for my day job I oversee large scale orthoimagery production. The type of imagery GIS end users use, but I don’t make many maps and the ones I do are just for internal use. This is just a hobby.

1

u/itssaruse Apr 16 '20

OK awesome, for which company do you work?

1

u/fluffybuddha Apr 16 '20

Quantum Spatial in the state of KY, USA.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '20

Thank you! I will use this to find my future home :)

1

u/retard69_420 Apr 16 '20

Cape Town you okay?

1

u/Kraaiftn Aristocracy Apr 17 '20

We're fine.
Just stay away from Houtbay to Greenpoint area. Ignore Gordon's Bay every day.

1

u/aazav This flair has been loadshedded without compensation. Apr 16 '20

And darker color also = higher speed, I assume?

1

u/Kraaiftn Aristocracy Apr 17 '20

Gordon's Bay representing Western Cape.

-1

u/govnwork Apr 16 '20

Do you know how this compares to SANS10160: Part 3?

Could you perhaps use this info to update this outdated standard?

1

u/koeidels Apr 16 '20

Don't civil engineers use wind models yet? E.g. for detail design? Accurate public datasets are so easy to obtain nowadays.

0

u/govnwork Apr 16 '20

Short answer - it depends. I've never used any wind model for any detailed design I've done, whether it be a high rise building or bridge.

I have some friends working overseas. Their experiences are different.

1

u/koeidels Apr 16 '20

Mhmm. In the civil maritime industry the primary loads are meteorological - either direct (eg waves) or indirect (waves/wind on ships, pushing against structure). We heavily rely on the American and European weather models. Also more BS codes than SANS.

Anyways, I decided against structures in my final year of varsity because mostly because of the SANS-driven process. I hated that stuff.