Wind climate micro-zoning: a pilot application to Liguria Region (North Western Italy)

A selection of the results obtained in the framework of the research activities for the realisation of the Liguria (North Western Italy) wind map are presented. In that context, a method was developed and implemented combining wind speed data probabilistic analysis techniques and numerical codes for simulating wind fields over complex orography. By applying that method to several long time series of wind speed data recorded on the Ligurian territory, high resolution wind maps at 10m height were elaborated for both the data population and the extreme values, as well as a probabilistic model of the reference wind speed, i.e. the mean speed at 10m height on an ideal flat open terrain. The implemented method was tested comparing the wind map with both literature and the available experimental data. Good agreement was found, especially for extreme values, showing a satisfactory reliability of the method. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.