Keweenaw North Waterway Buoy
Bob Shuchman: shuchman@mtu.edu
Colin Brooks: colin.brooks@mtu.edu
Nate Jessee: nljessee@mtu.edu
www.michigantechlakesuperior.org
www.mtri.org
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The Keweenaw Waterway North buoy gathered data
from 7/9/2010 through 10/11/2010. Data is located at
www.michigantechlakesuperior.org
A limited selection of records were removed for predeployment recording and sensor errors.
Data presented here represents dates from 7/9/2010
through 10/10/2010.
Two of the parameters collected were wind direction
and wind speed.
This data was organized to determine the frequency,
duration, and strength of winds moving off shore
(from land to water) and on shore (from water to
land).
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For all records spanning from July 9th through
October 10th 2010, wind speed
measurements were recorded every ten
minutes.
During this time span, wind speeds were less
than 2 m/s for 11.41% of all records and wind
speed was equal to zero for 0.07% of all
records.
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On shore and off shore winds are characterized based on the
buoy location and the direction of the land.
 Wind direction is absolute in that it indicates the direction
that wind is moving towards.
 On shore events are defined by consecutive recordings of
winds with a direction between 45 and 225 degrees where
360/0 is north and 180 degrees as south.
45

225
On Shore
Direction
4
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Off shore events are consecutive recordings
with a direction greater than 225 and less
than 45 degrees where 360/0 is north and 180
degrees is south.
Off Shore
Direction
45
225
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6
Histogram: Count of wind direction frequency
9000
8005
7000
6000
Frequency
Count of Recordings
8000
5448
5000
4000
Frequency
59.5%
40.5%
3000
2000
1000
0
Off Shore
On Shore
The frequency of wind direction recordings described as either off shore or on shore,
a total of 13453 records were taken from July 9th to October 10th.
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Value (Hours)
90
77.5
80
Wind
Speeds
For this
event
70
60
Max
10.83
m/s
Hours
50
Value (Hours)
40
Min
5.31
m/s
30
Ave.
8.07
m/s
20
10
8.35
2.68
0.17
0.33
0
Minimum
Maximum
Average
Median
Standard Deviation
Description of off shore wind events, described by duration of events in hours.
*Events are defined as time periods greater than 10 minutes where wind is consistently
moving in the on or off shore direction.
8
Wind Speed Values (m/s)
16.00
15.07
14.00
Wind Speed, m/s
12.00
10.00
8.00
Values (m/s)
6.00
3.47
4.00
3.05
2.40
2.00
0.00
0.00
Minimum
Maximum
Average
Median
Standard Deviation
Summary of all off shore wind speeds for all off shore events.
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Value (Hours)
6.00
5.17
5.00
Hours
4.00
Max
5.92
m/s
3.00
Values (Hours)
Min
4.32
m/s
2.00
Ave.
4.98
m/s
1.00
0.76
0.44
0.17
0.17
0.00
Minimum
Maximum
Average
Median
Standard Deviation
Description of on shore wind events, described by duration of events in hours.
*Events are defined as time periods greater than 10 minutes where wind is consistently
moving in the on or off shore direction.
10
Wind Speed Values (m/s)
14.00
12.56
12.00
Wind Speed, m/s
10.00
8.00
Values (m/s)
6.00
3.80
4.00
3.38
2.46
2.00
0.00
0.00
Minimum
Maximum
Average
Median
Standard Deviation
Summary of all on shore wind speeds for all on shore events
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Event Duration Statistics
90
77.5
80
70
Hours
60
50
Off Shore Values (Hours)
On Shore Values (Hours)
40
30
20
9.17
10
5.17
0.17
0.17
2.69
0.44
0.33
0.17
0.76
0
Minimum
Maximum
Average
Median
Standard Deviation
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16.00
15.07
14.00
12.56
Wind Speed, m/s
12.00
10.00
Off Shore Values (m/s)
8.00
On Shore Values (m/s)
6.00
4.00
3.47
3.80
3.05
3.38
2.40 2.46
2.00
0.00 0.00
0.00
Minimum
Maximum
Average
Median
Standard Deviation
Represents all wind speed records for all events categorized as on or off shore
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Started on September 11th at 7:30 p.m. and
lasted through September 15th at 1:00 a.m.
Lasting a total of 77 hours, 30 minutes.
The event had the following characteristics:
Average wind speed: 8.07 m/s
Minimum wind speed: 5.31 m/s
Maximum wind speed 10.83 m/s
The following slide represents the temporal
distribution of wind speed.
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9/11/10 19:30
9/11/10 21:20
9/11/10 23:20
9/12/10 1:20
9/12/10 3:20
9/12/10 5:20
9/12/10 7:20
9/12/10 9:20
9/12/10 11:20
9/12/10 13:20
9/12/10 15:20
9/12/10 17:30
9/12/10 19:30
9/12/10 21:30
9/12/10 23:30
9/13/10 1:30
9/13/10 3:30
9/13/10 5:30
9/13/10 7:30
9/13/10 9:30
9/13/10 11:30
9/13/10 13:30
9/13/10 15:30
9/13/10 17:30
9/13/10 19:30
9/13/10 21:30
9/13/10 23:30
9/14/10 1:30
9/14/10 3:30
9/14/10 5:30
9/14/10 7:30
9/14/10 9:30
9/14/10 11:30
9/14/10 13:30
9/14/10 15:30
9/14/10 17:30
9/14/10 19:30
9/14/10 21:30
9/14/10 23:30
Wind Speed, m/s
Wind Speed (m/s)
12
10
8
6
4
Wind Speed (m/s)
2
0
15
9/11/2010 19:30
9/11/2010 21:50
9/12/2010 0:20
9/12/2010 2:50
9/12/2010 5:20
9/12/2010 7:50
9/12/2010 10:20
9/12/2010 12:50
9/12/2010 15:20
9/12/2010 18:00
9/12/2010 20:30
9/12/2010 23:00
9/13/2010 1:30
9/13/2010 4:00
9/13/2010 6:30
9/13/2010 9:00
9/13/2010 11:30
9/13/2010 14:00
9/13/2010 16:30
9/13/2010 19:00
9/13/2010 21:30
9/14/2010 0:00
9/14/2010 2:30
9/14/2010 5:00
9/14/2010 7:30
9/14/2010 10:00
9/14/2010 12:30
9/14/2010 15:00
9/14/2010 17:30
9/14/2010 20:00
9/14/2010 22:30
9/15/2010 1:00
9/15/2010 3:30
Wind Direction
350
400
300
350
250
300
250
200
200
150
150
100
50
50
0
0
Wind Direction Degrees (Buoy) *
Wind Direction Degrees (Airport)
100
*Wind Directions indicate the actual direction that wind is moving
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7/10/2010 13:00
7/12/2010 6:50
7/14/2010 14:40
7/16/2010 22:00
7/19/2010 4:40
7/21/2010 12:10
7/23/2010 19:50
7/26/2010 2:40
7/28/2010 10:50
7/30/2010 17:30
8/2/2010 0:10
8/4/2010 7:10
8/6/2010 14:00
8/8/2010 20:30
8/11/2010 4:00
8/13/2010 12:30
8/15/2010 19:00
8/18/2010 1:40
8/20/2010 8:50
8/22/2010 15:20
8/24/2010 22:00
8/27/2010 5:30
8/29/2010 12:10
8/31/2010 18:50
9/3/2010 1:30
9/4/2010 4:30
9/6/2010 11:10
9/8/2010 17:40
9/11/2010 0:20
9/13/2010 7:00
9/15/2010 13:40
9/17/2010 20:20
9/20/2010 2:50
9/22/2010 13:20
9/24/2010 21:30
9/27/2010 4:10
9/29/2010 12:20
10/1/2010 19:10
10/4/2010 2:00
10/6/2010 8:30
10/8/2010 15:10
Wind Speed, m/s
WindSpeed(m/s)
16
14
12
10
8
6
WindSpeed(m/s)
4
2
0
Represents all records from July 9th through October 10th.
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7/9/2010 13:00
7/11/2010 10:00
7/13/2010 7:10
7/15/2010 5:30
7/17/2010 3:20
7/19/2010 0:30
7/20/2010 22:20
7/22/2010 19:30
7/24/2010 17:50
7/26/2010 15:00
7/28/2010 13:40
7/30/2010 10:50
8/1/2010 8:00
8/3/2010 5:20
8/5/2010 2:50
8/6/2010 23:50
8/8/2010 20:50
8/10/2010 18:50
8/12/2010 17:30
8/14/2010 14:50
8/16/2010 12:00
8/18/2010 9:00
8/20/2010 6:40
8/22/2010 3:40
8/24/2010 0:40
8/25/2010 22:00
8/27/2010 20:00
8/29/2010 17:00
8/31/2010 14:10
9/2/2010 11:20
9/3/2010 23:20
9/5/2010 1:50
9/6/2010 23:00
9/8/2010 20:00
9/10/2010 17:10
9/12/2010 14:10
9/14/2010 11:20
9/16/2010 8:30
9/18/2010 5:40
9/20/2010 2:40
9/22/2010 1:30
9/24/2010 1:10
9/25/2010 23:30
9/27/2010 22:10
9/29/2010 19:10
10/1/2010 16:30
10/3/2010 13:40
10/5/2010 10:50
10/7/2010 7:50
10/9/2010 5:00
Wind Speed, m/s
Wind Speed (m/s)
16
Major offshore wind event
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Represents all records from July 9th through October 10th and highlights the major off shore event
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High Frequency (HF) Radar is sensitive to
dominant wave period length.
Wave periods of small length, less than 2
seconds for example, may be unnoticed by HF
Radar.
An analysis was performed to determine how
frequently the dominant wave period dropped
below a specific value. Each event was also
characterized by the length of time the wave
period value was below the threshold.
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For all records spanning from July 9th to
October 10th, dominant wave period
measurements were recorded every ten
minutes.
The dominant wave period had a value of
zero second for 0.01% of all records.
Also, dominant wave period value was less
than 2 seconds for 15.98% of all records and
greater than 5 seconds for 16.03% of all
records between July 9th and October 10th.
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Count and Duration of Wave Period Events less than 2 Seconds
250
200
Frequency
Count of Events
217
142
150
100
Frequency
50
23
6
18
6
11
3
1
2
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
Duration of Wave periods less than 2 seconds
This graph represents 15.98 % of all records from July 9th through October 10th.
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Count and Duration of Wave Period Events less than 1.5 Seconds
160
147
140
100
Frequency
Count of Events
120
80
67
Frequency
60
40
21
20
10
6
1
0
0
0
0
3 hours
4 hours
5 hours
6 hours
7 hours
0
less than 10 10 minutes 30 minutes
minutes
1 hour
2 hours
Duration of Wave Periods less than 1.5 Seconds
This graph represents 3.95 % of all records from July 9th through October 10th.
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Count and Duration of Wave Period Events less than 1.1 Seconds
2.5
2
Frequency
Count of Events
2
1.5
Frequency
1
0.5
0
0
0
20 minutes
greater than 20 minutes
0
less than ten minutes
10 minutes
Duration of Wave Periods of Zero Seconds
This graph represents 0.01 % of all records from July 9th through October 10th.
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