Although it is something that we are not able to see with our eyes, the wind affects us daily. We take advantage of its use, it influences the climatic conditions and is studied daily by thousands of people.

The Wind.

Basically, the wind could be said to be an extensive current or air flow that originates in the atmosphere, on a large scale, and by natural causes.

To make it simpler, we must stay with the image that the wind is air in motion. A great current of air that moves due to various atmospheric circumstances, by the action of the heat of the Sun and the movements of translation and rotation of the Earth.

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How does the wind form.

The process of wind formation takes place in the following way when in the first place the earth's crust absorbs solar radiation, but due to several factors, the absorption of solar energy is not similar in all points of the planet.

These differences between the different points of the crust cause large air masses to form at different temperatures, which causes pressure differences in the atmosphere.

The air, like the rest of fluids, tends to move from places of higher pressure to those areas of lower pressure, which causes the air to move, that is, wind occurs.

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How the wind is measured.

Among the different characteristics of the wind, there are two that most interest: the direction and speed. To find the direction of the wind, simple metal vanes are used in the form of a bolt, cock or plane, which usually look in the opposite direction from which the wind comes.

Another instrument that serves to give an indication "by eye" of the direction and intensity of the wind is the windsock, which is used mostly in airports. It is a kind of cloth tube opened on two sides and suspended on a stick.

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If there is no wind, the sleeve remains in vertical position; when the wind blows, it is placed in a more or less oblique position. When the wind is very strong, the sleeve remains raised parallel to the ground.

To measure the wind speed, a more complex instrument is used: the anemometer. To determine the wind intensity, the Beaufort scale is used.

Currently, there are digital anemometers, which can collect data and produce accurate graphs and historical data and send them to meteorological centers in real time.

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How to interpret the wind on the weather map.

If we analyze the weather map, we can know the direction of the wind, since it goes from the anticyclones to the storms.

The anticyclones are associated with the good weather while the storms bad weather.

The isobars are the lines that we can see on the map, and that connect the different points that are at the same pressure.

If there are many isobars together, this means that the pressure differences are more pronounced, which means that the wind intensity is greater.

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The wind and the wind power.

It is estimated that a minimum part of the sun's energy is effectively converted into the wind, around 1 or 2%. If we could take advantage of all the wind, we could generate 53 TWh / year of wind energy, which would supply the energy needs of the entire planet.

The current wind turbines do not allow to exploit all the wind, but only generate energy from the winds near the ground and parallel to the horizon, as long as their speed is higher than 3 meters / second and less than 25 meters/second.

Wind turbines have evolved and become more efficient, since the first that was built had a yield of 10%, while those we see today benefit at a rate of 50% of energy.

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References.

• http://www.eschooltoday.com/winds/what-are-winds.html
• http://www.eschooltoday.com/winds/how-are-winds-measured.html
• https://sciencing.com/winds-formed-5145233.html
• https://www.eartheclipse.com/geography/what-are-winds-and-types-of-winds.html

Disclaimer: This is a compilation of various sources, in addition to my own knowledge of the subject.