Laplace-normal mixtures fitted to wind shear data

Abstract

A mixture model with Laplace and normal components is fitted to wind shear data available in grouped form. A set of equations is presented for iteratively estimating the parameters of the model using an application of the EM algorithm. Twenty-four sets of data are examined with this technique, and the model is found to give a good fit to the data. Some hypotheses about the parameters in the model are discussed in light of the estimates obtained.