Estimation of Distributions and Maximum Values of Horizontal Wind Speeds

Abstract

Statistical analyses of wind speeds from climatological data and from special studies of short-duration winds suggest that the distributions of the ratios of the time unit (monthly, daily, etc.) to the long-range average wind speeds are similar for different locations. The average of several such distributions are included and may be used to estimate the distribution of wind speeds even if only the average is known, at some location for which no wind history exists. Distribution of maximum wind speeds for different base periods and mean wind speeds were also examined. It was found that the distributions of the ratios of the maximum to the average wind speed, or its square root, could be used to estimate the expected maxima. The average of such distributions for monthly, daily and minute periods are included. Since the ratio of maximum to average wind speed increases as the average decreases, mere listing of the ratio could be misleading. To avoid that, extreme probability plots have been combined with maximum vs average wind speed scatter plots to suggest another approach to estimate the probability of encountering a specified peak wind speed.