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wind_direction

Calculate meteorological wind direction from zonal and meridional wind components.

Available in version 6.1.0 and later.

Prototype

load "$NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/nclscripts/csm/contributed.ncl"  ; This library is automatically loaded
                                                             ; from NCL V6.2.0 onward.
                                                             ; No need for user to explicitly load.

	function wind_direction (
		u    : numeric,  ; float, double, integer only
		v    : numeric,  
		opt  : integer   
	)

	return_val [dimsizes(u)] :  float or double

Arguments

u

A variable of any dimensionality containing the zonal wind component. Array size and shape must match v.

v

A variable of any dimensionality containing the meridional wind component. Array size and shape must match u.

opt

A scalar which indicates how 'calm' (u=v=0) wind direction is returned.

  1. opt=0: the returned wind direction will be 0.0
  2. opt=1: the returned wind direction will be set to missing (_FillValue).
  3. opt set to a float, double or integer (other than 0 or 1), the returned wind direction will be set to this value.

Return value

A multi-dimensional array of the same sizes as u. The output will be double if u or v is of type double.

Description

Meteorological wind direction is defined as the direction from which it originates. For example, a northerly wind blows from the north to the south. Wind direction is measured in degrees clockwise from due north. Hence, a wind coming from the south has a wind direction of 180 degrees; one from the east is 90 degrees.

See Also

atan2, wind_component, wind_speed, wind_stats

Examples

Example 1 

   u = (/ 10,   0,   0, -10,  10,  10, -10, -10, 0/)
   v = (/  0,  10, -10,   0,  10, -10,  10, -10, 0/)
   wdir = wind_direction(u,v,0)
   print(u+"  "+v+"  "+wdir)


         U     V    dir
(0)	10     0    270    (west)
(1)	 0    10    180    (south)
(2)      0   -10      0    (north)
(3)    -10     0     90    (east)

(4)	10    10    225    (southwest)
(5)	10   -10    315    (northwest)
(6)    -10    10    135    (southeast)
(7)    -10   -10     45    (northeast)

(8)	 0     0      0    (calm;   opt=0)
   	 0     0   1e20    (calm;   opt=1)
   	 0     0   -999    (calm;   opt=-999)