Relief control of summer wind direction and velocity: A case study from Finnish Lapland

The nature of local wind observations is demonstrated with hourly round-the-clock wind recordings June-September 1975, in a hilly environment in northernmost Finland. The observations are compared with the official wind recordings 10 km away in a main valley with different orientation. The main valley (Utsjoki) is oriented S-N and the synoptic meteorological station is located at 107 m a.s.l. The local observation site is in a valley c . 300 m a.s.l. and oriented NE-SW. Wind velocities and directions were plotted and evaluated on frequency isopleth diagrams to compare the characteristics of these two sites. The wind patterns differed considerably. The valleys strongly guided the winds. Only the pattern of the strong NW winds (>7 m/s) came out similarly at both sites. The importance of local wind recording for aeolian geomorphological studies in hilly and mountainous regions is emphasized.