ISSN: 2277-3754

ISO 9001:2008 Certified

International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology (IJEIT)
Volume 2, Issue 5, November 2012

Comparative Study of Weibull Parameters for

Wind Speed Data of Northern Morocco
Abdelbari Redouane, Driss Taoukil, Abdelmajid El Bouardi, Tab Ajzoul , Hassan Ezbakhe
AbstractIn this research, the measured wind speed data for
the months of May and June of the year 2008 at the height of 10 m
have been statically analyzed to determine the potential of wind
energy in the region of Tangier-Tetuan situated in the northern
Morocco. Wind speed analyses have been done using Weibull
distribution parameters. Especially, we have compared Weibull
parameters determined through two different methods, the
graphical method (named also least square method) and the other
method, designated in this paper as approximated method(named
also standard deviation method), which depends on the standard
deviation and average wind speed. In addition, the results of the
two approaches were compared to those calculated by a PC
program for the vertical and horizontal extrapolation of wind
climate statistics which named WAsP.

and the measurement point is on 10 meters above the ground.

The frequency of each speed in every month is determined by
a PC program. Wind speeds are frequently measured in
integers so that each wind speed is measured many times
during observations. Table I regroups the recorded data time
and the total number of wind data.
Table. I: Wind data information
Month

Morocco, country until now not producer of energy

resources, dependent on imported the quasi-totality of its
energy supply. This dependence increases to 97.3% in 2007,
according to the Moroccan Ministry of Energy. To reduce its
energy dependence, Morocco is oriented to the development
of the renewable sources of energy in particular the wind
energy. Indeed, Morocco, in view of its favourable
geographical situation, has an important wind potential which
can be estimated at approximately 6000 MW.
The windiest regions of Morocco are in the northern
extreme of the strait side of Gibraltar in the region of
Tangier-Tetuan, Essaouira region, the south Atlantic zone of
Tarfaya to Lagouira and the corridor of Taza between the
mountain ranges of the Atlas and the Rif.
In order to study wind power in this particular sites, the
records of wind speed have to be statistically analyzed. In this
context, this work is a statistic study of wind speed in the
Tangier-Tetuan region.
Tangier-Tetuan is the northernmost of the sixteen regions
of Morocco. It covers an area of 11.570 km. The region has a
coastline to the west on the Atlantic Ocean, on the north to the
Strait of Gibraltar and to the east on the Mediterranean Sea. It
borders the regions of Gharb-Chrarda-Bni Hssen and
Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate to the south and also has a border
to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.
II. USED WIND DATA
The wind data were collected by a meteorological Station
mounted in the Energetic Laboratory of the Faculty of
Sciences of Tetuan (Morocco). The sampling period is 6 min

total number of wind data

6 min

5392

6 min

4492

III. WIND ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION PROGRAM

(WASP)

Index Terms Wind Speed, Weibull Parameters, Wasp,

Morocco.

I. INTRODUCTION

recorded data time

Ma
y
Jun
e

Wind Analysis and Application Program (WAsP) is

developed by Danish state meteorological labs. The WAsP
contains models for the vertical extrapolation of wind data
taking into account sheltering of obstacles, surface roughness
changes and terrain height variations. Also, the WAsP can be
used for different surface roughness coefficients to determine
wind speeds and related wind power for many measurement
heights supplied. WAsP is a well known as a powerful tool in
prediction Wind characteristics. Cam et al. [14] use WAsP to
predict wind climates, wind resources and power productions
from wind turbines and wind farms.
The predictions are based on wind data that were measured
from stations in the same region. The program includes a
complex terrain flow model, a roughness change model and a
model for sheltering obstacles.
IV. PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
For describe the long-term records of wind speeds, the
probability density function of a Weibull distribution is often
used. Its expression is given by:

f w (V )

k V

c c

k 1

V k

c

(1)
k: shape factor
c: scalar factor
V: wind speed
The probability for the speed V to be less than or equal to
V0 is called the cumulative distribution function. It has as
expression:

292

Fw (V V0 ) 1 e

V k
0
c

(2)

ISSN: 2277-3754
ISO 9001:2008 Certified
International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology (IJEIT)
Volume 2, Issue 5, November 2012
For determining c and k, two approaches have been chosen
June (2008)
among the existing ones in the literature [1, 1012]:
y = 2,7316x - 4,3226
3
R2 = 0,9915

A. Approximated Method
The shape factor and the scale factor have as expression
[11]:

2
1
0

1.086

k
1 k 10
Vm
Vm
c
(1 1/ k )

-5

Fig. 1.B: Trend Line Algebraic Equation for the Month of June

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

(5)

B. Graphical Method
Eq. (2) can be rewritten as [12, 1,6]:

The wind data of the month of May and June (2008) have
been statistically analyzed. Table. II includes the wind data
processing results.
The average wind speed Vm, for each month, is
calculated by the equation:

ln ln(1 Fw (V V0 )) k ln(c) k ln(V0 )

Vm

(6)
The parameters k and c can be calculated through the least
square fitting of the data. In fact,

y b mx

(7)

x ln(V0 )

(8)

y ln ln(1 Fw (V V0 ))

(9)
Finally, the shape factor c and the scalar factor k will be
determined by:

k m

(10)

(11)
Fig. 1-a and Fig. 1-b show the trend line of each month
using equation (7).
May (2008)
3
y = 3,2283x - 5,8023
R2 = 0,995

0
0,5

1,5

2,5

data
trendline

1N
Vi
N i 1

(12)
N: number of records for each month.
The standard deviation, for each month, is given by:

With x and y are given as follows:

data
trendline
2,5

-3

(4)

-1

-4

( x) t x 1et dt

1,5

-2

(3)

-1

: standard deviation,
Vm: average wind speed
: gamma function defined by the integral:

ce

0,5

1 N
(Vi Vm )2
N 1 i 1

(13)
Results show that the graphical method fits better the
WAsP results for May, with a relative error value of 1.10%
for c coefficient, and with a k coefficient equal to 3.08. In
June, it is the approximated method which fits the WAsP
results, with a relative error value of 1.10% for c coefficient,
and with a k coefficient equal to 2.21. This indicates that the
wind speed records are close to the average wind speed. Fig.
2-a, Fig. 2-b, Fig. 3-a and Fig. 3-b show the actual probability
density function (data), Weibull probability density function
using graphical method, approximated method and WAsP.
The actual probability density function is determined
through the relationship:
fi = ni/N
(14)
N: total number of wind data obtained in the month, ni: frequency of a particular wind speed value.
These functions can be used to predicate the average wind
speed and average wind power corresponding to each month.

-2
-3

VI. CONCLUSION

-4

This work is a comparative study of Weibull parameters for

wind speed data of the town of Tetuan (northern Morocco).
Wind speeds were modeled using Weibull probability
function. Its parameters were estimated using graphical
approach, approximated approach and WAsP. It was shown
that the approximated approach correspond to the wind speed
data more than the graphical approach, depending on the

-5
-6
-7

Fig. 1.A: Trend Line Algebraic Equation for the Month of May

293

ISSN: 2277-3754
ISO 9001:2008 Certified
International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology (IJEIT)
Volume 2, Issue 5, November 2012
Driss Taoukil: Ph.D, Energetic Laboratory,
Physics Department,
disparity and the shape of the actual data distribution.
Faculty of Sciences of Tetuan, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetuan
However, this study should be completed by other studies 93000, Morocco.
witch will take into account bigger data sets of different
Abdelmajid El Bouardi: Professor, Energetic Laboratory, Physics
seasons and month of the year, to give a more accurate Department, Faculty of Sciences of Tetuan, Abdelmalek Essaadi University,
Tetuan 93000, Morocco.
comparison between the two methods.
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Tab Ajzoul: Professor, Energetic Laboratory, Physics Department,

Faculty of Sciences of Tetuan, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetuan
93000, Morocco.
Hassan Ezbakhe: Professor, Energetic Laboratory, Physics Department,
Faculty of Sciences of Tetuan, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetuan
93000, Morocco.

[2] A. Mostafaeipour. Feasibility study of harnessing wind energy

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[3] M. EL-Shimy. Optimal site matching of wind turbine
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[4] L. de Araujo Lima, C. Rosendo Bezerra Filho, Wind energy
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[5] W. Al Nassar, S. Alhajraf, Al-Enizi A, Al-Awadhi L. Potential
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[12] S. Haque Alvi, AG. Yousef Abdalla. Variation of wind speed
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Abdelbari Redouane: Ph.D student, Energetic Laboratory, Physics
Department, Faculty of Sciences of Tetuan, Abdelmalek Essaadi University,
Tetuan 93000, Morocco.

294

ISSN: 2277-3754
ISO 9001:2008 Certified
International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology (IJEIT)
Volume 2, Issue 5, November 2012
APPENDIX
Table. II: Comparison between Weibull Parameters Calculated By Graphical Method, Approximated Method and Wasp
Weibull

Weibull graphical method

WAsP
Vm

(m/s)

(m/s)

May

5.45

June

4.12

Weibull approximated method

Y0

k*

c*

k*

c*

1.53

-5.80

3.08

6.10

3.23

6.03

4.59%

1.10%

3.98

6.01

22.5%

1.42%

1.39

-4.32

2.21

4.50

2.73

4.87

19.0%

7.54%

3.26

4.59

32.2%

1.99%

*: relative error
Y0: trend line
100

100

Data
Graphic method
Approximated method

Data
75

75

Graphical method
Approximated method

f (%)

f (%)
50

50

25

25

0
0

10 11 12

10

11

12

U (m/s)

U (m/s)
Fig 2.A: Probability Density Function Of Wind Speeds (May).

Fig 3.A: Probability Density Function Of Wind Speeds (June).

Fig 2.B: Probability Density Function Of Wind Speeds

Calculated By Using Wasp (May).

Fig 3.B: Probability Density Function Of Wind Speeds Calculated

By Using Wasp (June).

295