Modeling the Variation of Wind Speed with Height for Agricultural Source Pollution Control

Abstract

<p>Wind speed is an imponant parameter in modeling odor transmission from an agricultural source. It is common to measure wind speed at a single height above the ground, for instance 10 m. Since wind speed increases more rapidly with height, it is always necessary to interpolate this measurement to the height where the odor is sampled. This project investigated the variation of wind speed with height (0 m to 10m) using data from weather stations and a precise airspeed probe. Five mathematical models were evaluated by means of statistical indices. The logarithmic model did not adequately describe the variation of wind speed at a height of 0 m to 10 m above the ground. The power law model was found more applicable with the exponent in the range of0.3 to 0.6. Besides the logarithmic and power law models, the three-parameter exponential model can favorably fit wind speed vs. height. Wind data measured at 10 m can then be easily interpolated to any height from 0 m to 10m using models with the estimated parameters in this research.</p>