Analysis of time dynamics in wind records by means of multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis and Fisher-Shannon information plane

TL;DR

This study analyzes over 10 years of hourly wind data using multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis and Fisher-Shannon information plane to reveal height-dependent multifractal dynamics and complex temporal structures in wind speed.

Contribution

It applies combined multifractal and information-theoretic methods to wind data, revealing height-dependent multifractality and complex dynamics not previously characterized.

Findings

Wind speed exhibits multifractal time fluctuations.

Results depend on the height of measurement.

Height-dependent patterns are confirmed by both methods.

Abstract

The time structure of more than 10 years of hourly wind data measured in one site in northern Italy from April 1996 to December 2007 is analysed. The data are recorded by the Sodar Rass system, which measures the speed and the direction of the wind at several heights above the ground level. To investigate the wind speed time series at seven heights above the ground level we used two different approaches: i) the Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MF-DFA), which permits the detection of multifractality in nonstationary series, and ii) the Fisher-Shannon (FS) information plane, which allows to discriminate dynamical features in complex time series. Our results point out to the existence of multifractal time fluctuations in wind speed and to a dependence of the results on the height of the wind sensor. Even in the FS information plane a height-dependent pattern is revealed, indicating a good agreement with the multifractality. The obtained results could contribute to a better understanding of the complex dynamics of wind phenomenon.