OPTIMAL VECTOR INTERPOLATION OF WIND FIELDS

In this paper a method of optimal interpolation of the vector field is suggested. It is shown that the vector estimator and its associated e rror are independent of the choice of the coordinate system in which t o represent the wind. The use of the method as a tool for determining the optimal number and sites of observation stations to represent the wind in a given area is demonstrated. A vector correlation coefficient is defined from the regression matrix in a manner analogous to the sc alar case. It is independent of the coordinate system and is symmetric in its arguments. The method was applied to a dataset of surface wind measured in a complex terrain in Israel during the summer 1993. Compa rison of the wind field interpolated by this method to that interpolat ed by the commonly used 1/r(2) method shows the suggested method is a significant improvement both in magnitude and direction.