dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaA Qualitative Description of Boundary Layer Wind Speed Records
| Authors | Rajesh G. Kavasseri † ~, Radhakrishnan Nagarajan |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0604022 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0604022 |
Abstract
The complexity of the atmosphere endows it with the property of turbulence by virtue of which, wind speed variations in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) exhibit highly irregular fluctuations that persist over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Despite the large and significant body of work on microscale turbulence, understanding the statistics of atmospheric wind speed variations has proved to be elusive and challenging. Knowledge about the nature of wind speed at ABL has far reaching impact on several fields of research such as meteorology, hydrology, agriculture, pollutant dispersion, and more importantly wind energy generation. In the present study, temporal wind speed records from twenty eight stations distributed through out the state of North Dakota (ND, USA), ($\sim$ 70,000 square-miles) and spanning a period of nearly eight years are analyzed. We show that these records exhibit a characteristic broad multifractal spectrum irrespective of the geographical location and topography. The rapid progression of air masses with distinct qualitative characteristics originating from Polar regions, Gulf of Mexico and Northern Pacific account for irregular changes in the local weather system in ND. We hypothesize that one of the primary reasons for the observed multifractal structure could be the irregular recurrence and confluence of these three air masses.
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"abstract": "The complexity of the atmosphere endows it with the property of turbulence by\nvirtue of which, wind speed variations in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL)\nexhibit highly irregular fluctuations that persist over a wide range of\ntemporal and spatial scales. Despite the large and significant body of work on\nmicroscale turbulence, understanding the statistics of atmospheric wind speed\nvariations has proved to be elusive and challenging. Knowledge about the nature\nof wind speed at ABL has far reaching impact on several fields of research such\nas meteorology, hydrology, agriculture, pollutant dispersion, and more\nimportantly wind energy generation. In the present study, temporal wind speed\nrecords from twenty eight stations distributed through out the state of North\nDakota (ND, USA), ($\\sim$ 70,000 square-miles) and spanning a period of nearly\neight years are analyzed. We show that these records exhibit a characteristic\nbroad multifractal spectrum irrespective of the geographical location and\ntopography. The rapid progression of air masses with distinct qualitative\ncharacteristics originating from Polar regions, Gulf of Mexico and Northern\nPacific account for irregular changes in the local weather system in ND. We\nhypothesize that one of the primary reasons for the observed multifractal\nstructure could be the irregular recurrence and confluence of these three air\nmasses.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0604022",
"authors": [
"Rajesh G. Kavasseri \u2020 ~",
"Radhakrishnan Nagarajan"
],
"categories": [
"physics.ao-ph"
],
"title": "A Qualitative Description of Boundary Layer Wind Speed Records",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0604022"
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