Mesoscale modeling of the atmosphere

This chapter discusses the mechanisms responsible for generating atmospheric motion, scales of the various phenomena of the atmosphere relevant to modeling the wind plant, atmospheric energetics, and introduces the chaotic nature of the flow. Then the equations of motion and their discretization are presented, along with the discussion of typical boundary and initial conditions, including a discussion of data assimilation (DA) as a way to assure that the initial conditions best incorporate the observations. The author then discuss how the atmospheric models are applied to wind resource assessment and forecasting, and how the wind farm wakes are currently parameterized in the atmospheric models. For completeness, we introduce methods for assessment, postprocessing, and uncertainty quantification. As the field is rapidly evolving, we finish with discussion of where the field is likely to go in the next decade.