Nocturnal Wind Speed Mapped For The First Time
Peter Baas has devised a way to map how powerful winds develop high up in the air. His research has made a very important contribution that can lead to the improvement of weather and climate models. The knowledge of these powerful currents will also prove important to the generation of wind energy and the aviation sector.
Generally during the evening hours the wind close to the ground begins to die down. In contrast, the wind several hundred meters in the atmosphere begins to strongly increase. This happens because the cooler air above the ground hangs under the warmer air in the sky. The speed of the wind is dependent on how the warm and cool air mix.
This mixing stops through the night and a stable layer is developed. Above this layer the winds speed can quickly increase. The research was part of a project named Land Surface Climate and the Role of the Stable Boundary Layer Part 2.