Surface Wind Regionalization Based on Similarity of Time-series Wind Vectors

In the complex terrain where local wind systems are formed, accurate understanding of regional wind variability is required for wind resource assessment. In this paper, cluster analysis based on the similarity of time-series wind vector was applied to classify wind regions with similar wind characteristics and the meteorological validity of regionalization method was evaluated. Wind regions in Jeju Island and Busan were classified using the wind resource map of Korea created by a mesoscale numerical weather prediction modeling. The evaluation was performed by comparing wind speed, wind direction, and wind variability of each wind region. Wind characteristics, such as mean wind speed and prevailing wind direction, in the same wind region were similar and wind characteristics in different wind regions were meteor-statistically distinct. It was able to identify a singular wind region at the top area of Mt. Halla using the inconsistency of wind direction variability. Furthermore, it was found that the regionalization results correspond with the topographic features of Jeju Island and Busan, showing the validity.