Wind Meteorology

Without wind you are not going to make any power with your wind turbine. Long before wind energy companies build their wind farms they analyze their wind resource. They want to know what type of environment they are putting their wind turbines into because it can dramatically impact how much power (and then money) they can make.

Some basic things wind energy people like to know about the wind at a particular site include:

• How fast the wind is moving?
• What is the fastest wind speed that occurs here?
• Is it windier in a valley or on a hill top?
• What direction does the wind come from most of the time?
• Is the wind "smoother" near that house or out in the field?
• Is the wind going faster near the ground or high in the sky?
• What is the distribution of wind speeds at this site?
• Is there enough wind energy here for me to make money on my turbine?

If you wanted to do an experiment related to wind meteorology you might think about describing the winds around your school, house or other location in your community (like a hill top). To do this you need to get wind data. You might find wind data from a local college or university, weather station or local meteorologist. You might also have your very own simple weather station at your house that gives you wind data.

If you can't find any place near your house or school that collects wind data then maybe it is time to do it on your own.  Our wind meters and loggers are great tools for this. For less than $100 you get a wind data logger that lets you collect wind data on your computer. Then using some simple spreadsheet commands you can analyze the data and see if the site you pick is good for a wind turbine.

Wind data analysis can become quite complicated. Stick with a simple project and you may get better results.