Modeling a Multi-modal Distribution of Wind Direction Data in Kudat, Malaysia

Abstract

Wind direction is the direction from which the wind is blowing. It is expressed in terms of degrees measured clockwise from geographical direction. The knowledge of the wind direction can be used to obtain information about the wind energy potential, dispersion of particulate matter in the air, the effects of engineering structures on the building, maritime study, and etc. This study provides a suitable model for the wind direction that indicates multi-modal distributional properties. A case study involves with a data from Kudat, Malaysia has been analysed. The statistical models known as a Finite Mixture of von Mises Fisher (mvMF) and Circular Distribution based on Nonnegative Trigonometric Sums (NNTS) has been fitted to the data. Then, the suitability of mvMF and NNTS models were judged based on a graphical representation and goodness-of-fit statistics. The results found that the mvMF model with  components is sufficient to provide a best model.