Dynamic Variations in Wind Speed Intensity Across China and Their Association with Atmospheric Circulation Patterns

Abstract

Variations in the wind speed intensity significantly impact evapotranspiration, water cycle processes, air quality and wind utilization. Previous studies have focused primarily on changes in mean wind speed, with little research on variations in different wind speed intensities. In this paper, we defined five wind speed indices to quantify the changes in different wind speed intensities and analyzed their associations with atmospheric circulation based on daily wind speed data collected from 601 meteorological stations across China from 1960 to 2018. The wind speed indices we defined include the annual mean wind speed, the annual maximum daily mean wind speed, the number of heavy wind days, the number of gentle breeze days and the number of light breeze days. The results showed that from 1960 to 2018, the annual mean wind speed, the annual maximum daily mean wind speed, the number of heavy wind days and the number of gentle breeze days exhibited significant decreasing trends (P < 0.05). The number of light breeze days exhibited a significant increasing trend (P < 0.001) in China during the same period. Large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns were one of the main factors affecting the changes in wind speed intensity. The Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the West Pacific Subtropical High Intensity Index (WPSHI) were significantly negatively correlated with the annual mean wind speed, the annual maximum daily mean wind speed, the number of heavy wind days and the number of gentle breeze days (P < 0.01), and the Asian Polar Vortex Intensity Index (APVI) was extremely significantly positively correlated with these four wind speed indices (P < 0.001). This suggests that monitoring and analyzing these atmospheric circulation indices can enable more accurate predictions of wind speed. These findings will provide information for climate change forecast, air pollution risk assessments and wind energy utilization.