Student
Name:
___________________________
Lab
Partner:
______________________________
Part
1:
Comparing
potential
wind
resources
in
Texas
and
North
Carolina
From
the
“Roping
the
Wind”
video
we
know
that
Roscoe,
Texas
is
a
good
wind
power
site.
What
makes
it
a
good
site
for
generating
energy
from
the
wind?
Are
there
places
in
North
Carolina
that
might
also
be
good
places
for
wind
farms?
To
answer
this
question
you
will
begin
by
exploring
the
geography
and
topography
around
Roscoe
in
Texas
and
then
in
North
Carolina
using
Google
Earth.
Your
goal
is
to
see
if
there
are
geographic,
land
use
and
topographical
features
that
could
be
indicators
of
good
wind
energy
producing
areas.
Then
you
will
compare
your
predictions
to
the
wind
speed
data
for
both
regions
using
the
Internet
software
tool
WindNavigator
from
AWSTrueWind
(http://navigator.awstruewind.com/).
GOOGLE
EARTH
EXPLORATIONS
1.
Open
Google
Earth
if
it
is
not
already
open
on
your
desktop.
Type
“Roscoe
TX”
into
the
address
or
“Fly to”
box
as
shown
in
Figure
1.
Scroll
down
to
the
“Layers”
box
and
make
sure
that
everything
is
uncheck
except
for
:
•
•
•
Primary
Database
Geographic
Web
Terrain
2. Click
on
the
magnifying
glass
icon
beside
the
“Fly to”
box
and
use
the
zoom
and
tilt
controls
on
the
right
to
look
around
once
you
arrive
in
Roscoe.
Figure 1.
Shows the location of key tools in Google Earth circled in red. 1
Student
Name:
___________________________
Lab
Partner:
______________________________
3.
Zoom
in
to
take
a
closer
look
at
what
the
land
looks
like
around
Roscoe.
Is
it
flat
or
hilly?
Is
it
heavily
populated?
Are
there
forest,
farms
etc.?
Does
it
look
like
the
area
you
live
in?
If
not,
how
is
it
different?
4.
Let’s
be
a
bit
more
precise
about
the
location
of
important
features
in
and
around
Roscoe.
To
do
this
you
will
need
to
make
sure
that
your
Google
Earth
settings
show
the
longitude,
latitude,
and
elevation
of
places
that
you
point
to
on
the
surface
of
the
Earth.
Look
at
the
areas
circled
in
red
on
Figure
2.
below.
Figure
2.
Settings in <Tools> and <Options> menus to show precise location. If
you
do
not
see
Latitude
and
Longitude
displayed
in
decimal
format
and
elevation
shown
in
meters
at
the
center
bottom
of
your
screen
as
shown
in
the
red
circle
in
Figure
2,
then
you
will
need
to
change
the
settings.
2
Student
Name:
___________________________
Lab
Partner:
______________________________
•
•
•
Go
to
the
upper
left
portion
of
your
screen
and
pull
down
the
“Tools”
menu.
At
the
bottom
of
the
interactive
box
that
appears,
select
“Options”.
Choose
the
“3D
View“
tab
and
then
follow
the
numbered
steps
as
shown
in
the
Figure
3
below.
Figure
3.
Selection of Lat/Long. and elevation display formats.
5.
Now
you
are
ready
to
take
a
look
around
and
record
your
observations
using
longitude,
latitude
and
elevation.
•
To
begin
with,
try
to
locate
the
Sweetwater
Wind
Farm
at
Lat.
32.341457
and
Long.
‐
100.476667.
The
Lat.
and
Long.
will
change
as
you
navigate
around
in
Google
Earth.
The
elevation
at
that
latitude
and
longitude
is
displayed.
•
Once
you
locate
Sweetwater
Wind
Farm,
zoom
in
to
see
if
you
can
make
out
some
of
the
wind
turbines
on
the
farm.
Some
of
the
turbines
cast
very
distinctive
shadows.
Open
the
information
maker
for
Sweetwater
Wind
Farms.
•
How
many
MW
of
energy
is
this
wind
farm
expected
to
generate?
Is
this
a
lot?
How
many
New
England
households
could
this
wind
farm
power?
NOTE:
1 MW is 1 million watts. 1 kW is 1000 watts. A one hundred watt light bulb is rated to consume one hundred watts of power when turned on. If such a light bulb were on for four hours it would consume a total of 400 watt‐hours of energy. Watts, therefore, measure instantaneous power while watt‐hours measure the total amount of energy consumed over a period of time. I MW of power generating capacity can power about 1000 homes under ideal conditions. According to 2001 Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, New England residential customers consume the least amount of electricity, averaging 653 kilowatt hours (kWh) of load in a month, while the East South Central region, which includes states such as Georgia and Alabama and Tennessee, consumes nearly double that amount at 1,193 kWh per household. 6.
Zoom
out
so
that
you
can
see
all
of
Texas.
Move
the
cursor
around
and
get
a
feel
for
the
elevation
in
all
compass
directions.
Is
there
a
direction
in
which
there
is
a
distinct
rise
or
fall
of
the
land?
Provide
a
detailed
explanation
of
your
answer
below.
3
Student
Name:
___________________________
Lab
Partner:
______________________________
7.
Use
the
measuring
tool
found
near
the
top
left
to
center
icon
menu
area
of
Google
Earth.
In
each
compass
direction
from
Roscoe
record
the
distance
at
which
the
elevation
rises
to
more
than
900
meters
above
sea
level.
Do
not
go
farther
than
300
km
beyond
Roscoe.
If
no
elevation
in
that
direction
is
more
than
900
meters,
record
the
distance
with
the
highest
elevation
in
that
direction.
Enter
your
findings
in
the
following
table.
The
last
column
in
the
table
will
be
completed
later
with
Wind
Navigator.
Table 1.
Texas Topography and Wind Speeds
Direction
Distance
in
km
from
Roscoe
Elevation
in
meters
above
sea
level
Mean
wind
speed
at
60
m.
(from
WindNavigator
see
#14
below)
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Long.
Lat.
Long.
Lat.
Long.
Lat.
Long.
Lat.
Long.
Lat.
Long.
Lat.
Long.
Lat.
Long.
Lat.
4
Student
Name:
___________________________
Lab
Partner:
______________________________
8.
What
effect,
if
any,
do
you
think
the
topography
of
the
land
around
Roscoe
have
on
the
wind
power
potential
of
the
region?
Keeping
this
topography
in
mind,
would
it
be
beneficial
if
the
wind
blew
more
or
less
consistently
from
one
or
more
directions?
Explain
your
answer.
9.
Zoom
out
again
so
that
you
can
see
both
Texas
and
North
Carolina
(and
a
lot
of
other
states
in
between,
of
course.)
Use
the
measuring
tool
to
mark
out
a
direct
route
between
Roscoe
and
Raleigh,
NC.
What
changes
in
topography
do
you
notice
along
your
route?
10. Use
Raleigh
as
the
center
of
your
study
of
North
Carolina
in
much
the
same
way
as
you
used
Roscoe
in
Texas.
•
Move
the
cursor
around
and
get
a
feel
for
the
elevation
in
all
compass
directions
using
the
same
method
that
you
used
to
complete
Table
1
for
Texas.
How
much
of
the
state
can
you
cover
by
looking
at
areas
that
are
at
a
maximum
300
km
in
any
direction
from
Raleigh?
•
Is
there
a
direction
in
which
there
is
a
distinct
rise
or
fall
of
the
land?
How
does
this
compare
to
the
topography
around
Roscoe?
11. Move
the
cursor
around
and
zoom
in
and
out.
How
would
you
describe
the
pattern
of
land
use
across
the
state?
•
Are
there
any
areas
that
resemble
the
land
use
you
saw
in
Texas?
•
Compare
and
contrast
the
land
use
of
the
two
states
based
on
your
Google
Earth
flyover
of
each
state.
5
Student
Name:
___________________________
Lab
Partner:
______________________________
12. Boone,
Asheville,
and
Cape
Hatteras
have
been
suggested
as
possible
wind
farm
locations
in
NC.
Do
you
agree
with
this
conclusion?
Explain
your
answer
based
on
your
Google
Earth
survey
of
North
Carolina.
Consider
both
topography
and
land
use.
13. Zoom
out
again
so
that
you
can
see
both
Texas
and
North
Carolina.
Go
to
the
“Layers”
and
click
on
the
“+”
beside
“Gallery”.
It
should
become
a
“‐“
and
show
a
new
list
of
files
indented
from
the
“Gallery”
tag.
Then
click
on
the
“+”
beside
“NASA”.
Click
on
the
box
beside
the
first
“NASA”
and
then
click
on
the
“+”
beside
“Earth
City
Lights”.
Click
in
the
circle
beside
both
“Earth
City
Lights”.
Refer
to
Figure
5.
below.
6
Student
Name:
___________________________
Lab
Partner:
______________________________
These
composite
satellite
images
of
night
lights
give
a
good
sense
of
where
population
centers
are
located.
How
does
population
density
in
West
Texas
near
Roscoe
compare
with
population
density
in
North
Carolina
and
around
the
locations
that
might
be
considered
as
potential
wind
farm
locations?
Is
it
better
to
have
a
high
or
a
low
population
density
near
wind
farms?
Explain
your
answer.
WINDNAVIGATOR
EXPLORATIONS
14. When
you
have
the
opportunity,
switch
from
Google
Earth
to
Wind
Navigator
at
http://navigator.awstruewind.com/
•
You
will
need
to
sign
in
to
use
Wind
Navigator
so
follow
your
teacher’s
instructions
to
access
this
program.
•
Once
you
have
signed
in
you
should
see
a
screen
that
resembles
Google
Earth
with
similar
navigation
tools,
however
colored
squares
are
layered
on
top
of
the
map
as
shown
in
Figure
4.
below.
The
colors
correspond
to
wind
speeds
at
different
heights
above
the
ground.
•
Set
the
wind
turbine
height
in
the
box
labeled
“Select Hub Height”
to
60
meters.
•
Then
zoom
out
so
that
you
can
see
the
entire
state
of
Texas.
You
may
want
to
enter
“Roscoe
TX”
in
the
box
labeled
“Explore”
to
help
center
your
search.
•
You
will
need
to
click
on
the
check
mark
to
activate
the
search.
•
To
complete
the
last
column
in
Table
1.
in
#
7
above,
enter
the
Long.
and
Lat.,
for
each
location
as
you
recorded
it
in
Table
1.,
in
the
“Explore”
box
and
click
on
the
check
mark.
Read
the
mean
wind
speed
value
at
60
m
from
the
display
box
below
the
map.
•
“Fly
over”
to
North
Carolina
and
zoom
out
so
that
you
can
see
the
entire
state.
How
do
wind
speeds
in
North
Carolina
compare
to
those
in
Texas?
Describe
how
they
are
similar
and
how
they
are
different.
Are
the
wind
speed
patterns
you
see
for
North
Carolina
consistent
with
your
answer
to
#12
above?
7
Student
Name:
___________________________
Lab
Partner:
______________________________
Figure
4.
WindNavigator
settings 15. Based
on
your
findings,
do
you
think
that
topography
plays
any
role
in
creating
the
conditions
that
can
result
in
a
productive
wind
farm?
Is
this
what
you
predicted
in
your
response
to
#8
and
#12
above?
•
Is
there
any
reason
to
believe
from
this
data
that
the
direction
of
the
prevailing
winds
in
a
particular
area
might
combine
with
topography
to
create
good
wind
farm
conditions?
•
What
additional
information
would
you
need
to
answer
this
last
question?
8