Weather simulation at Enoshima Bay where the 2021 Olympic Sailing race will be held. Colors indicate the wind speeds at 10m height.


“ Ultimately, we want to cover the globe with one huge, ultra-high resolution finecasting model”


WINDLASS JIP Whiffle is taking part in the MARIN-led WINDLASS JIP (see page 18), which started last year. This project represents one of the first ventures outside of the energy market for the company and is looking into the benefits of the Whiffle model for shipping companies and port authorities etc. “Already we have demonstrated how our technology is perfectly fit for identifying weather phenomena in ports, such as weather- related risks when ships are manoeuvring. This is particularly important now as container vessels and cruise ships are getting higher and higher and are catching more wind.”


Complex port environments The JIP’s first phase compared Lidar measuring campaigns with the Whiffle technology for a 20-day period in the Port of Rotterdam.


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The results compared favourably with each other. “We are able to handle very complex environments within the port, including all the container stacks and factories, which may be diverting and reflecting the wind.” Clearly, there is a lot of potential for shipping operators and ports. “We will be able to calculate the direct wind speeds on a ship berthed along the quayside and translate them into forces, which can then be retrieved from the model. Lidar is a fantastic measuring device but it is all about what happens today, it can’t predict tomorrow’s wind, which is the holy grail. Whiffle has the advantage that we have a 3D model of all the weather parameters; turbulence, cloud formation, wind speed and surface interactions etc.”


Combining wind, wave and current models Another initiative underway is the new Offshore Wind Dashboard JIP where Whiffle will be working with MARIN, Deltares and other partners. In a previous project, Whiffle has already coupled Deltares’ wave model with its atmospheric model to predict waves and wind together. And now the team aim to combine it with a hydrodynamic model that predicts currents.


“With the next stage expected to kick-off end-2020 we will then have the full picture of all the marine conditions next year hopefully, which is an invaluable resource.


“It is incredible what we are learning from MARIN because much of the maritime world is new to us. I think we are very complementary and there is certainly much more in store for this cooperation. One interesting opportunity is if we can combine our technology with MARIN’s simulators. We could then have real-time weather simulation, with currents and waves – the total shipping environment!”


Global coverage In the short term, Whiffle is aiming to scale up and enlarge the simulation domain to cover the whole of the Netherlands, then Northwestern Europe and following that, the entire continent.


“We honestly think that this technology is THE weather prediction model of the future in general, but especially for the maritime world. These are exciting times. The sky is the limit! Ultimately, we want to cover the globe with one huge, ultra-high resolution finecasting model.”


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