Low-level jets in the North and Baltic seas: mesoscale model sensitivity and climatology using WRF V4.2.1

Olsen, Bjarke T. E.; Hahmann, Andrea N.; Alonso-de-Linaje, Nicolas G.; Žagar, Mark; Dörenkämper, Martin

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4499-2025

Articles | Volume 18, issue 14

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4499-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4499-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 14

Model evaluation paper

|

24 Jul 2025

Model evaluation paper |

| 24 Jul 2025

Low-level jets in the North and Baltic seas: mesoscale model sensitivity and climatology using WRF V4.2.1

Bjarke T. E. Olsen, Andrea N. Hahmann, Nicolas G. Alonso-de-Linaje, Mark Žagar, and Martin Dörenkämper

Data sets

Mesoscale Low-Level Jet Climatology for the North and Baltic Seas Bjarke T. E. Olsen et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13154214

Complete ERA5 from 1940: Fifth generation of ECMWF atmospheric reanalyses of the global climate H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.143582cf

Model code and software

Code and data for "Low-level jets in the North and Baltic Seas: Mesoscale Model Sensitivity and Climatology using WRF V4.2.1" Bjarke T. E. Olsen et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14354487

A description of the advanced research WRF model version 4 W. C. Skamarock et al. https://doi.org/10.5065/1dfh-6p97

Short summary

Low-level jets (LLJs) are strong winds in the lower atmosphere that are important for wind energy as turbines get taller. This study compares a weather model (WRF) with real data across five North and Baltic Sea sites. Adjusting the model improved accuracy over the widely used ERA5. In key offshore regions, LLJs occur 10–15 % of the time and significantly boost wind power, especially in spring and summer, contributing up to 30 % of total capacity in some areas.