The National Weather Service 'Wind Map' provides accurate hourly visualizations of wind patterns traveling across the United States.
Created by co-leaders of Google’s 'Big Picture' visualization research group, Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg's mesmerizing bird's eye view of the country's air stream is more interesting than one would imagine. Directional patterns and intensity of the wind gusts are dynamically updated on the map, as well as being able to pinpoint what part of the country is the windiest at what point in the day.
The Cambridge-based pair's intricately detailed map is black, gray and white in color, and documents just how gusty the country can get. The duo hopes that the map will be an indicator of how much clean, renewable energy could potentially be harnessed from the air that whips across the U.S. daily.
The National Weather Service 'Wind Map' only covers America at this point, but the creators hope to one day expand it to cover the entire planet.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Real-time Wind Visualization
- Opportunity to develop innovative applications that provide real-time visualizations of wind patterns for various industries such as renewable energy, transportation, and agriculture.
- Clean Energy Potential
- Opportunity to explore the potential for harnessing clean and renewable energy from wind gusts across the United States and globally.
- Expanded Global Wind Mapping
- Opportunity to expand the concept of wind mapping to cover the entire planet, enabling more comprehensive analysis and applications.
Where This Applies
- Renewable Energy
- Disruptive innovation opportunity to optimize the utilization of wind energy in renewable energy generation and improve efficiency.
- Transportation
- Disruptive innovation opportunity to develop wind-optimized transportation systems and vehicles for improved fuel efficiency.
- Agriculture
- Disruptive innovation opportunity to leverage wind patterns data for precision agriculture techniques and improved crop management.
