Wind field analysis using unit-vector density mapping

An automated mapping technique, termed unit-vector density mapping (UVDM), is introduced as a method of displaying continuous instantaneous wind velocities and other vector quantities. The purpose of introducing this technique is to 1) generate renewed interest in meteorological data display techniques and 2) address specific concerns in the display and interpretation of vector quantities of particular interest to meteorologists. With this graphic procedure, the density of short standard-length line segments (unit-vectors) represents wind speed and unit-vector orientation show wind direction. This paper describes the plotting algorithms for producing UVDM maps and compares this technique to existing procedures for mapping wind vectors.