Comparing annual extreme winds in Iran predicted by numerical weather forecasting and Gram-Charlier statistical model with meteorological observation data

Abstract

Iran has been experiencing severe dust storms due to strong wind speeds that cause sand erosion. This erosion is particularly pronounced in the semi-arid and arid zones. Wind speed predictions using numerical weather forecasting (NWF) are indispensable; however, the applicability of NWF for predicting extreme annual wind speeds is not well known. To validate the NWF model, this study compared NWF-model-predicted 3-hour averaged wind speeds over one year and those observed at 390 weather stations. In addition, a statistical model was employed to estimate the probability densities of wind speeds for both the observational data and the NWF output. As an NWF model, the mesoscale Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was utilized to simulate wind speeds. The results indicate that the observation data are consistent with the modeled datasets regarding the relationships among the mean, standard deviation, and skewness, whereas the WRF model tends to overestimate the mean wind speeds. In addition, the predictability of annual extreme wind speeds was determined using the peak factor. Moreover, skewness has emerged as an influential parameter for predicting extreme winds. Finally, the Gram-Charlier series model was utilized to estimate probability density functions of the wind speeds, demonstrating its effectiveness in capturing positively skewed distributions. The present analyses broaden the use of both NWF outputs and statistical methods to predict extreme wind speeds in Iran.