FAQ Technical
Data and File Formats
What data format does it read?
Windographer does not require any particular data format. The Basic edition of Windographer opens text and Excel files and interprets the file by itself. For example, it tries to figure out the date format, the time step, and the type of data that each data column contains. If it has trouble opening your data file, please send us the file or a piece of it, so that we can either change Windographer to make it capable of reading the file, or else suggest a change to the data file to make it readable. (We treat all customer data as confidential.)
The Standard and Professional editions of Windographer also specifically open RWD files and ZephIR files.
The Student edition opens only windog files that have already been prepared and saved using Windographer.
Can it really open any data file?
No, but it can open a lot of different data file formats. It still gets stumped by certain things, such as multiple lines of data for a single time step.
Why won’t Windographer let me open a .txt or .xls file?
Different editions of Windographer include increasing capability to read data. The Student edition opens only windog files that have already been prepared and saved using Windographer and will not allow you to open txt files. If your license has expired, you won’t be able to open txt files either.
Can it read RWD files?
Yes, the Standard and Professional editions of Windographer can read RWD files provided you have the SDR software installed on your computer, and provided the SDR software can find the corresponding site file. Windographer 2 can also read NSD database files directly.
Can it read SoDAR data?
Yes, it works nicely with data from the ASC SoDAR, AQSystems and the SecondWind Triton. A new feature in Windographer 2 allows you to create rules based on the SecondWind “quality” measurement. Every edition of Windographer can view and manipulate SoDAR data once it has been saved to a windog file, but only the Basic, Standard or Professional edition will read SoDAR data from a data file. Please contact us if you have any trouble opening a data file, or have other SoDAR examples for us to consider.
Can it read LiDAR data?
Yes, we have tested it extensively with data from the ZephIR by Natural Power. Windographer can also read data from WindCube. If the data has multiple lines of data for a single time step, Windographer can’t read it directly. Please contact us if you have any trouble opening a data file, or have other LiDAR examples for us to consider.
Can it read NDF files?
Yes. The Standard and Professional editions of Windographer can open NDF files written by the Nomad2 data logger by Second Wind Inc.
Can it read high frequency data?
No, the minimum time step it can accept is one minute.
Can Windographer read multiple data files into a single data set?
Yes, with the Standard and Professional edition of Windographer you can use the Append command on the File menu to append many data files to an existing data set.
Why can’t I append to my .windog file?
The append feature is only available with the Standard or Professional edition of Windographer.
How much data can it take?
There is no hard limit to the size of data file that Windographer can read, although if the data file exceeds about 20 MB it becomes impractically slow. It can easily handle a 50-year hourly data set comprising two data columns—about 10 MB. A met tower data set with a 10-minute time step and about 30 data columns will take up 6 or 7 MB per year, so Windographer can handle about four years of that type of data. We hope to implement improved memory management techniques to allow Windographer to handle larger data sets in the future.
Does Windographer provide wind data?
No, Windographer does not supply data, it simply lets you analyze data. Windographer does come with a sample file.
Exporting Data
Does Windographer let me export graphs for my reports?
Yes, you can right click on any graph or wind rose to copy it to the clipboard or export it to a .PNG or .EMF file.
Can I remove the Windographer kite watermark from my graphs?
At the time of purchase you can pay US $500 per license to remove the kite watermark from all graphs.
Does it let me export data?
Yes, with the Basic, Standard and Professional editions of Windographer the Export Data window lets you export some or all of the data set, and it lets you change the time step so you can export hourly averages, for example. This feature is not available in Windographer Student Edition.
Can I control the export format of my data?
Yes, you can specify the date and time format, and you can specify any text string to indicate missing data. The data export feature is not available in Windographer Student Edition.
Can Windographer export TAB files?
Yes, the Standard and Professional editions of Windographer can export in the WaSP TAB file format.
Can it export to WindSim?
Yes, the Standard and Professional editions of Windographer can export to the WindSim .wws format, which contains a frequency distribution, or to the WindSim .tws format, which is a time series format.
Can Windographer export for Meteodyn?
Yes, the Standard and Professional editions of Windographer can export in the required format to the wind flow model Meteodyn WT.
Wind Turbine Output
Does Windographer calculate the output of wind turbines?
Yes, it can calculate the power output of an individual wind turbine in each time step, and compare the output of different wind turbines.
Does it contain a library of wind turbines?
Yes, the library currently contains about 100 wind turbine models.
Why doesn’t my Windographer have any wind turbine files?
When Windographer is first installed, it stores these .wtp files in the Mistaya\Windographer\WindTurbines folder within the common application data folder on your computer. Check to see if these files are in the wrong location. In the English language version of Windows Vista and Window 7, the common application data folder is C:\ProgramData by default. In the English language version of Windows XP, it is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data by default.
Does it account for the effect of air density on wind turbine power output?
Yes, in each time step it calculates the air density and adjusts the power curve accordingly, using the standard IEC approach.
Does it account for the effect of hub height on wind turbine power output?
Yes, it extrapolates the wind speed up to hub height if necessary.
Wind Data Calculations and Corrections
Does Windographer calculate wind flow over terrain?
No.
Can it correct for an error in the offset of a wind vane?
Yes, the Modify Data Columns window allows you to adjust the offset and/or slope of any data column.
Does Windographer take vertical wind speed into account?
Yes. The user can identify vertical wind speed data and then use the Inflow Angle Analysis window to analyze the vertical wind speed or calculated inflow angle. Graphs and tables show these factors vs direction, wind speed, month and hour of day.
Wind Shear Analysis
Why does the Monthly Statistics table for the wind shear parameter show different numbers than the Wind Shear Analysis window?
You can calculate mean wind shear in two different ways. If your data set covers 1000 time steps, for example, you could find the best-fit wind shear parameter in each time step, and then average those 1000 values. Alternatively, you could calculate the mean wind speed at each height, and then do a single curve fit on that mean wind shear profile. In other words, you could do the curve fit 1000 times and average the results, or average the wind speeds and do the curve fit only once.
In the Wind Shear Analysis window, Windographer uses the second method because we think it is more accurate. But if you create the Monthly or Annual statistics table for the power law exponent or the surface roughness, you are using the first method. We recommend that you refer to the Wind Shear Analysis window for any wind shear calculations.
Does Windographer use all wind speed sensors when it calculates the wind shear?
Yes, although you can choose to use a subset of all sensors in the Wind Shear Analysis window.
Why do the mean wind speeds in the vertical wind shear profile not match the overall mean wind speeds?
Because when calculating the vertical wind shear profile, Windographer considers only those time steps in which all wind speed sensors contain data. This ‘concurrency’ requirement does not apply to the overall mean wind speeds.
What is the Wind Shear Tool?
Windographer includes several tools that don’t refer to the data you are using. They are provided for quick analysis when you only have a minimal amount of information. For example, the Wind Shear Tool window allows you to enter the wind speeds at different heights above ground and see the logarithmic and power law profiles that best fit the data you enter. This make no reference to the wind data that you may have in Windographer.
Other technical questions
Can Windographer compare two datasets, or use data from a second source to predict the wind at a primary site?
No, Windographer 2 does not have the ability to compare data sets. We are currently developing such a Measure-Correlate-Predict module for Windographer 3, which we will release in 2012.
What happened to the Quality Control Window?
Windographer 2 replaces the Quality Control Window with the flagging capability.
Do you have any sample data that I can use?
Windographer comes with a file of sample data.
Can I make a customized report from Windographer?
Windographer comes with two reports, a complete summary, and a monthly report. You can use the filtering capability to create a variety of content. We would consider creating a customized report for a fee. Alternatively, all Windographer graphs can be exported, and can easily be included into your existing report structure.
Does Windographer work with Windows 7?
Yes, Windographer works with Windows 7. However, the program that we use to create a pdf report does not, so you can only view or print the report but not save directly to a .pdf file if you use Windows 7.
Can I take a Windographer training course?
Please watch the training videos on our website for an overview of the software. We don’t have any scheduled training, although we can provide training in person, or over the internet. In most cases, an hour on the phone or a few email responses are all someone needs to get started with Windographer.
How do I share my favourite flags and flag rules?
You can create a windog file that contains the flags and flag rules that you want to share. When another user opens that windog file, they can add those flags and flag rules to their existing favorites.
Windographer stores a favourite flags and favourite flag rules file (FavoriteFlag.dat and FavoriteFlagRules.dat) which you can copy and share. They are located in the Mistaya\Windographer\Flags folder within the common application data folder on your computer. In the English language version of Windows Vista and Window 7, the common application data folder is C:\ProgramData by default. In the English language version of Windows XP, it is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data by default. Note that if you replace your favorite flag files, you will lose any previous favorites that you had.
Troubleshooting (error messages)
I got an error that Windographer can’t find the help file.
Windographer is looking for the windographer.chm file in the same folder as the Windographer executable folder. The two files have to be in the same folder and have the same name. So if you rename or more the Windographer executable , you will have to rename or more the windographer.chm file as well.
When I try to append my file Windographer tells me “Windographer cannot append this data set because it is out of phase with the master data set.” What does this mean?
Windographer requires the time stamp patterns to match in order to append data. If the original file contains 10 minute data, the appended data must be 10 minute data with matching minutes. For example, a file with time stamps of 1:15, 1:25, and 1:35 cannot be appended to a file with time stamps of 10:50, 11:00, and 11:10. You can use the Apply Time Shift feature to adjust the time steps in a given file.
