Unit Abbreviationsm = metre = 3.28 ft.
s = second
h = hour
N = Newton
W = Watt
HP = horsepower
J = Joule
cal = calorie
toe = tonnes of oil equivalent
Hz= Hertz (cycles per second)
10-12 = p pico = 1/1000,000,000,000
10-9 = n nano = 1/1000,000,000
10-6 = µ micro = 1/1000,000
10-3 = m milli = 1/1000
103 = k kilo = 1,000 = thousands
106 = M mega = 1,000,000 = millions
109 = G giga = 1,000,000,000
1012 = T tera = 1,000,000,000,000
1015 = P peta = 1,000,000,000,000,000
Wind Speeds1 m/s = 3.6 km/h = 2.237 mph = 1.944 knots
1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour = 0.5144 m/s = 1.852 km/h = 1.125 mph
Wind Speed ScaleWind Speed at 10 m height
| m/s | knots | Beaufort Scale (outdated) | Wind |
| 0.0-0.4 | 0.0-0.9 | 0 | Calm |
| 0.4-1.8 | 1 | 1 | Light |
| 1.8-3.6 | 3.5-7.0 | 2 | |
| 3.6-5.8 | 7-11 | 3 | |
| 5.8-8.5 | 11-17 | 4 | Moderate |
| 8.5-11 | 11-22 | 5 | Fresh |
| 11-14 | 22-28 | 6 | Strong |
| 14-17 | 28-34 | 7 | |
| 17-21 | 34-41 | 8 | Gale |
| 21-25 | 41-48 | 9 | |
| 25-29 | 48-56 | 10 | Strong Gale |
| 29-34 | 56-65 | 11 | |
| > 34 | > 65 | 12 | Hurricane |
Roughness Classes and Roughness LengthsRoughness Classes and Roughness Lengths
The roughness class is defined in the European Wind Atlas on the basis of the roughness length in metres z 0 , i.e. the height above ground level where the wind speed is theoretically zero. ln is the natural logarithm function.
if (length <= 0.03)
class = 1.699823015 + ln(length)/ln(150)
if (length > 0.03)
class = 3.912489289 + ln(length)/ln(3.3333333)
Roughness Classes and Roughness Length Table
| Rough- ness Class | Roughness Length m | Energy Index (%) | Landscape Type |
| 0 | 0.0002 | 100 | Water surface |
| 0.5 | 0.0024 | 73 | Completely open terrain with a smooth surface, e.g.concrete runways in airports, mowed grass, etc. |
| 1 | 0.03 | 52 | Open agricultural area without fences and hedgerows and very scattered buildings. Only softly rounded hills |
| 1.5 | 0.055 | 45 | Agricultural land with some houses and 8 metre tall sheltering hedgerows with a distance of approx. 1250 metres |
| 2 | 0.1 | 39 | Agricultural land with some houses and 8 metre tall sheltering hedgerows with a distance of approx. 500 metres |
| 2.5 | 0.2 | 31 | Agricultural land with many houses, shrubs and plants, or 8 metre tall sheltering hedgerows with a distance of approx. 250 metres |
| 3 | 0.4 | 24 | Villages, small towns, agricultural land with many or tall sheltering hedgerows, forests and very rough and uneven terrain |
| 3.5 | 0.8 | 18 | Larger cities with tall buildings |
| 4 | 1.6 | 13 | Very large cities with tall buildings and skycrapers |
Density of Air at Standard Atmospheric Pressure
| Temperature °Celsius |
Temperature ° Farenheit |
Density, i.e. mass of dry air kg/m 3 | Max. water content kg/m 3 |
| -25 | -13 | 1,423 | – |
| -20 | -4 | 1,395 | – |
| -15 | 5 | 1,368 | – |
| -10 | 14 | 1,342 | – |
| -5 | 23 | 1,317 | – |
| 0 | 32 | 1,292 | 0,005 |
| 5 | 41 | 1,269 | 0,007 |
| 10 | 50 | 1,247 | 0,009 |
| 15 | 59 | 1,225 ** | 0,013 |
| 20 | 68 | 1,204 | 0,017 |
| 25 | 77 | 1,184 | 0,023 |
| 30 | 86 | 1,165 | 0,030 |
| 35 | 95 | 1,146 | 0,039 |
| 40 | 104 | 1,127 | 0,051 |
** The density of dry air at standard atmospheric pressure at sea level at 15° C is used as a standard in the wind industry. Viscosity of Atmospheric Air
| Temperature ° Celsius | μ | 20 | 1.80 E -5 | 1.50 E -5 |
| 50 | 1.95 E -5 | 1.79 E -5 |
Note: E -5 means exponential notation, i.e. the number should be multiplied by 0.00001 Power of the Wind
| m/s | W/m 2 | m/s | W/m 2 | m/s | W/m 2 |
| 0 | 0 | 8 | 313.6 | 16 | 2508.8 |
| 1 | 0.6 | 9 | 446.5 | 17 | 3009.2 |
| 2 | 4.9 | 10 | 612.5 | 18 | 3572.1 |
| 3 | 16.5 | 11 | 815.2 | 19 | 4201.1 |
| 4 | 39.2 | 12 | 1058.4 | 20 | 4900.0 |
| 5 | 76.2 | 13 | 1345.7 | 21 | 5672.4 |
| 6 | 132.3 | 14 | 1680.7 | 22 | 6521.9 |
| 7 | 210.1 | 15 | 2067.5 | 23 | 7452.3 |
For air density of 1.225 kg/m 3 , corresponding to dry air at standard atmospheric pressure at sea level at 15° C. The formula for the power per m 2 in Watts = 0.5 * 1.225 * v 3 , where v is the wind speed in m/s.
Warning:
Although the power of the wind at a wind speed of e.g. 7 m/s is 210 W/m 2 , you should note, that the average power of the wind at a site with an average wind speed of 7 m/s typically is about twice as large. To understand this, you should read the pages in the Guided Tour beginning with the Weibull Distribution and ending with the Power Density Function. Standard Wind Class Definitions (Used in the U.S.)
| Class | 30 m height | 50 m height | ||
| Wind speed | Wind power | Wind speed | Wind power | |
| m/s | W/m 2 | m/s | W/m 2 | |
| 1 | 0-5.1 | 0-160 | 0-5.6 | 0-200 |
| 2 | 5.1-5.9 | 160-240 | 5.6-6.4 | 200-300 |
| 3 | 5.9-6.5 | 240-320 | 6.4-7.0 | 300-400 |
| 4 | 6.5-7.0 | 320-400 | 7.0-7.5 | 400-500 |
| 5 | 7.0-7.4 | 400-480 | 7.5-8.0 | 500-600 |
| 6 | 7.4-8.2 | 480-640 | 8.0-8.8 | 600-800 |
| 7 | 8.2-11.0 | 640-1600 | 8.8-11.9 | 800-2000 |
Source: http://www.windpowerwiki.dk