MODELING OF ICING EVENTS BASED ON PASSIVE ICE METER OBSERVATIONS IN QUEBEC

The objective of this study is to estimate an event-based model for th e distribution of glaze ice and of the associated wind speed in differ ent regions of Quebec. The available meteorological data covers period s of observations up to 21 yr at 180 stations deployed throughout the province. Four statistical distributions for ice thickness (extreme ty pe I, extreme type II, 3-p lognormal, and log Pearson type III) are in vestigated. The log Pearson distribution is found to provide the best fit for the majority of the stations. Statistical analyses are also pe rformed on the associated wind speed, the recurrence rate of icing eve nts, and the residency period of ice. For the associated wind, 5 stati stical distributions were investigated (extreme type I, extreme type I I, Rayleigh, 3-p lognormal, and log Pearson type III). All 5 distribut ions were found to provide a good fit for the data. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.