Wind Intensity and Power Density in the Brazilian Dry Tropical Forests (Caatinga)

Abstract

Wind speed has been widely used for energy purposes. Therefore, studies focused on its knowledge are extremely relevant to better benefit from this resource. The aim of this study is to analyze wind behavior and estimate wind power density (WPD) in the interior of northeastern Brazil, a region with predominance of the semi-arid climate, based on the data made available by the automatic station installed at the Experimental Farm in the municipality of São João do Cariri-PB, which come from the SONDA project and refer to the year 2007. Descriptive analysis techniques were used to identify the periods in which the wind behavior is more favorable to wind harnessing. From the results obtained, there was a predominance of southeast in the wind direction component. However, the values of both the observed wind speed (2, 25 and 50 m) and the wind speed estimated for the levels of 100 and 150 m, as well as the estimates of power density (50, 100 and 150 m) showed that the lowest records are present mainly in the first hours of the day, as well as in the first half of the year, while the highest values occur from 10 a.m. extending to the beginning of the night and prevail in the last six months of the year. These determinations denoted higher values of wind power density available for the second half of the year (mainly from August to December).