How do I average wind directions using excel?

[Rex Morgan]

I have a data set of wind directions in degrees, rounded to the nearest 10
degrees. I am attempting to take a average of that data set. Any help would
be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dana DeLouis]

Hi. That's a good question because the average of 350° and 10° is due
north, and not the average (180°)
I "Think" that one way is to take the average of the East-West, and
North-South components.
With given Degrees in Column A names "Rng", see if this Array Formula will
work...

=DEGREES(ATAN2(AVERAGE(COS(RADIANS(Rng))),AVERAGE(SIN(RADIANS(Rng)))))

If the answer is negative, then add 360.
(ie if -10, then add 360: -> 350°)

HTH :>)

 

[neopolitan]

Are all these directions from the same quadrant or within 90 degrees
(min/max)? Not sure how useful an average will be if they vary more
than that.

ANYWAY...
Assuming that your data set is in col A, use the AVERAGE function in a
formula in a separate cell; ie: =AVERAGE(A2:A10). If you precede this
with the Round function, you can eliminate the decimal fraction as
well: =ROUND(AVERAGE(A2:A10),0).