US Geological Survey Maps America’s Wind Farms

Following Oprah's advice that you can never be too rich, too thin or hoard too much data (which, of course, trumps thin and rich among a majority of scientists), the US Geological Survey (USGS) just released the first publicly available interactive map showing 47,000 onshore wind turbine locations across the United States, from large, sprawling wind farms all the way down to solitary turbines.

Merging multiple databases

Even though this huge data dump creates opportunities for wide-ranging research, the USGS will use the map to assess wind energy's effects on wildlife, according to an explanatory blog post. For example, turbine-level data will improve the ability to study wildlife collisions from wind turbine wakes, ground based radar, and wind facilities overlapping with migratory flyways (click here to open the map) The wind turbine map, which you can't say isn't thorough, includes all the turbines installed before July 2013, and has elegantly melded data from the FAA, the US EIA, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as well as a plethora of additional sources. Using high-resolution imagery, all of the turbine locations have been verified to within plus or minus 10 meters. The agency also includes the following tutorial to get researchers started:

Going deep, going granular

So obviously, the USGS has the first data cohort covered: wind turbine locations - check. But that's not all. Prior to this study there as just a smattering of national-level maps that included only basic information, but now the USGA has provided details about the height - check, blade length - check, and energy capacity of every turbine - check, check, check. So by quickly dropping down below the national map on a turbine tour to the wind farms around Midland, Texas, the first view shows clumps of arrays. Using filters, you could further refine the search to a specific height, blade size, and power capacity.

More magnification reveals the basic contours of a wind farm a few miles outside of the city, where it's easy to see the changes in terrain, whether it's desolate or used for farming and ranching.

Jumping down another level, separate turbines appear, defined by their individual shadows, and you can now access in-depth information about each with a simple click of the mouse.

This is a powerful productivity tool. Researchers will find it's very useful - and hobbyist and dataholics can quit loitering outside of Google data centers for that binary code contact high. As Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell pointed out in a press release, "In making this critical information available to the public, the USGS has provided data that will help improve the siting of future wind energy projects, as well as aid land managers in devising more up-to-date land-use and multiple-use plans."

Is this a good example of using big data to improve productivity?

Images: wind turbine, Harvey McDaniel; Wind map, USGS