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TERRAIN ROUGHNESS Roughness classes and roughness lengths are variables used to determine the potential energy of the wind at a specific site. Both variables are an indicator of how much a landscape inhibits the flow of wind. Areas with an abundance of trees, tall buildings, or rough topography inhibit wind speeds greatly and therefore have high roughness class values (class 3 and 4). Areas that inhibit wind very little, such as open fields or bodies of water, have low roughness classes (class 0 and 1). Roughness length is a measurement of the amount a landscape slows wind speeds. Roughness length is determined by the height above the ground at which the wind speed is 0. On smooth surfaces this height is very. On rough and uneven surfaces the height at which wind speeds are 0 is much higher. Because of the rough terrain and abundance of trees, the Middlebury College Snow Bowl has a roughness class of 3.
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