In terms of angle measurement in degrees, North corresponds to 0°/360°, East to 90°, South to 180° and West to 270°.Ĭompiling a wind rose is one of the preliminary steps taken in constructing airport runways, as aircraft can have a lower ground speed at both landing and takeoff when pointing against the wind. Wind roses typically use 16 cardinal directions, such as north (N), NNE, NE, etc., although they may be subdivided into as many as 32 directions. Presented in a circular format, the wind rose shows the frequency of winds blowing FROM particular directions. A wind rose gives a very succinct but information-laden view of how wind speed and direction are typically distributed at a particular location. A wind rose plot may contain additional information, in that each spoke is broken down into colour-coded bands that show wind speed ranges. Read how to interpret a wind rose diagram. Each concentric circle represents a different frequency, emanating from zero at the center to increasing frequencies at the outer circles. The length of each 'spoke' around the circle is related to the frequency that the wind blows from a particular direction per unit time. Presented in a circular format, the modern wind rose shows the frequency of winds blowing from particular directions over a specified period.

North was depicted with a fleur de lis, while east was shown as a Christian cross to indicate the direction of Jerusalem from Europe. No differentiation was made between cardinal directions and the winds which blew from those directions. Typically the wind direction data is sorted into twelve equal arc segments, 30 each segment, in preparation for plotting a circular graph in which the radius. Before the development of the compass rose, a wind rose was included on maps in order to let the reader know which directions the 8 major winds (and sometimes 8 half-winds and 16 quarter-winds) blew within the plan view.

Wind rose diagram