Theses and Dissertations

Jessica Dealy

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Kirkland, Brenda L.

Committee Member

Mercer, Andrew E.

Committee Member

Freeman, Matthew Alan

Committee Member

Brown, Michael E.

Date of Degree

5-11-2013

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Geosciences

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Geosciences

Abstract

The hypothesis tested was that a site in Leflore County, Mississippi, located on the bluff above the Mississippi River flood plain (the Delta) would experience wind speeds adequate for power generation. Wind measurements were collected at a height of 55 m (above ground level) between October 2011 and October 2012. Winds at this height were predominately southeasterly with a mean wind speed less than 4 m/s. Winds did not accelerate above this bluff. Low surface friction of the Delta was not beneficial due to the predominant wind direction. To better understand Delta wind patterns, an S-mode varimax-rotated principal component analysis (RPCA) was performed on monthly 30 m North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) wind data. Three areas for future wind resource assessment measurements were determined. Each pattern highlighted more energetic wind speeds areas, none of which included the measurement site. The RPCA method was successful in delineating homogeneous wind speed patterns.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/20584

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