Figure 6. Eleven-day running averages of daily mean wind speed (m s1) , average maximum wind speed (m s1), and dispersion (standard deviation normalized by mean) for each day for the four seasonal periods

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wind speed (m s1), and dispersion (standard deviation normalized by mean) for each day for

the four seasonal periods.

suggesting that this coastal location consistently has sustained winds in the

neighborhood of 5 m s1. (Note that the dispersion is a measure of the variability

of wind speed for all hours and years for a given day. This is a useful measure of

variability for this study, but it is not an adequate measure of gustiness.) The

wind rose diagrams (Fig. 7) show a bimodal distribution of wind direction, with

almost equal likelihood of wind from the NE and SW. Prudhoe Bay (PRU),

closer to the coast, shows a more even distribution of winds. BET is the only site

indicating winds exceeding 4.5 m s1 over 50% of the time, with the strong pref-

erence to NE and SW directions holding there as well. FRA shows a wind direc-

tion distribution similar to that of BET, which is not surprising considering that

both are located on the coastal plain. BET and FRA show a large bias for strong

winds from the E and NE.