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The application of statistics to the mesoscale study of wind speed and direction in the Canberra region

The temporal and spatial variability in wind speed and
direction was investigated in a study of the mesoscale wind
fields in the Canberra region. The statistical description of
the winds was based on twelve months of three-hourly data at
seventeen sites obtained in a joint program carried out by the
Division of Land Use Research, CSIRO, the National Capital Development Commission, and the Bureau of Meteorology.
The statistical analysis proceeded in stages. The first
two stages were concerned with the determination and
examination of averages and measures of dipersion. Information
on the temporal variability in regional wind, defined as the
average of the winds at the seventeen collection sites,
provided the first insight into the important determinants of
winds in the region. The data were then categorized on the
basis of the information thus obtained, and the averages over
time for each site were analysed in each category. The
variation between sites revealed the extent of the spatial
variability in the region.
For each category, for each site, there were
perturbations around the average state, and in the last stage
of the study, the analysis examined how the perturbations were
related across sites using correlation coefficients.
Generalized Procrustes Analysis was used, followed by the
extensive use of cluster analysis.
Linear modelling techniques were used at all stages of
the study, not only for wind speed, but also for wind direction
which is an angular variate and thus required different
modelling procedures. The models related the variables of
interest to terrain features such as position, elevation and
surface roughness. These models allowed an informed judgement
to be made on the likelihood of accurately estimating the winds
at other locations in the region using interpolation
techniques.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/219058
Date January 1986
CreatorsJohnson, M. E., n/a
PublisherUniversity of Canberra. Information Sciences
Source SetsAustraliasian Digital Theses Program
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Rights), Copyright M. E. Johnson

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