An analysis of six simultaneous wind records taken near Vancouver

Abstract

Hourly wind speeds and directions taken at six sites near Vancouver, Canada over a period of one year during 1971–1972 have been analyzed. Mean magnitude ratios obtained for different wind directions under high wind conditions vary from about 0.3 to 1.4 and can be explained qualitatively by local shelter effects, local terrain effects or anemometer heights. The mean magnitude ratio is in every case shown to be essentially identical to the ratio of mean wind magnitudes, for high wind conditions; this is justified by simple analysis. The standard deviation of the magnitude ratio lies between 0.24 and 0.69 of the mean ratio. Uncertainty in this mean ratio, which is an important link in wind engineering design, may have to be incorporated into statistical design procedures to avoid taking unknown risks in the estimation of design wind speeds.