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Wind or current from heading, course and speeds.
Syntax
Description
[windfrom,windspeed] = driftvel(course,groundspeed,heading,airspeed) computes the wind (for aircraft) or current (for watercraft) from course, heading and speeds. Course and groundspeed are the direction and speed of movement relative to the ground (in degrees), Heading is the direction in which the vehicle is steered, and airspeed is the speed of the vehicle relative to the airmass or water. The output windfrom is the direction facing into the wind or current (in degrees), and windspeed is the speed of the wind or current (in the same units as airspeed and groundspeed).
Example
An aircraft is cruising at a true airspeed of 160 knots and a heading of 10 degrees. From the Global Positioning System (GPS) reciever, the pilot determines that the aircraft is progressing over the ground at 155 knots in a northerly direction. What is the wind aloft?
course = 0; groundspeed = 155; heading = 10; airspeed = 160; [windfrom,windspeed] = driftvel(course,groundspeed,heading,airspeed) windfrom = 84.717 windspeed = 27.902
The wind is blowing from the right, 085 degrees at 28 knots.
See Also
driftcorr |
Heading to correct for wind or current drift |
| | driftcorr | eastof | |