The wind environment in India

Abstract

Knowledge of a wide variety of wind parameters is required13; because of the diverse applications that need them. In wind engineering, a major issue at the present time is to formulate a rational method of estimating design wind loads in different parts of the country, the building code in current use is not consistent- with published estimates13; of extremes, which in turn are at best only, in broad qualitative agreement with each other. A thorough re-examination is therefore called for. The mean winds appear well-understood, and are dominated by the monsoons and the presence of the remnants of the Findlater jet that blows across the Arabian Sea. The country is generally characterised by a relatively high extreme/mean ratio, posing difficult problems for the windmill designer. A variety of statistical data needed for wind energy applications is now available, including duration curves,13; probability distributions etc., the need here is now for detailed microsurveys. The variation of monthly means over the year can be compactly described in terms of two empirically defined orthogonal modes, corresponding roughly to the south-west and north-east monsoons. The meagre data available on gust frequencies required in aeronautical applications show them to be relatively high. But a variety of other phenomena important in aviation, from mountain waves to microbursts, still need to be investigated.