PADRÕES TEMPORAIS DO VENTO À SUPERFÍCIE EM MESORREGIÕES DO ESTADO DA BAHIA

Abstract

The objective in this study was to determine the temporal variability patterns of the surface wind in mesoregions of the Bahia state. Multivariate analysis methods (principal component analysis and cluster analysis) were applied to three-month averages of the zonal and meridional components of the surface wind registered by five automatic stations operated by the Instituto do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hidricos (INEMA). The years studied were 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The first two principal components of the zonal wind component explained 99.4% of the total variance of the three-month averages, while the first two principal components of the meridional wind component explained 99.6%. The cluster analysis applied to the most significant temporal factor loadings by means of the Ward method and Euclidian distance resulted in three homogeneous groups for each wind component, with two groups being comprised by one station only. Higher wind speeds characterize these groups, a result that points toward the importance of local factors such as the aspect of the relief.