Characterization of surface wind regime in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro

This study deals with the characterization of surface wind regime in several sectors of Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region, and demonstrates the influence of daily wind cycle and the topographic aspects in the local wind circulations. For the evaluation of the wind pattern, it was used hourly data from different automatic surface meteorological stations. Afterward, these hourly data were organized in daily wind frequency. The results clearly showed that the modulation of local wind circulation follows the sea-land breeze system. It was remarkable the high percentage of calm wind conditions observed in the Afonsos weather station, which characterizes this station as a stagnation region influenced essentially by its local topographic features. Finally, this study provides large database on the direction and frequency of surface wind in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region, which could be used by the public authorities to improve their environmental management policy for the region.

surface wind; wind frequency distribution; Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region