driftcorr

Heading to correct for wind or current drift

Syntax

heading = driftcorr(course,airspeed,windfrom,windspeed)
[heading,groundspeed,windcorrangle] = driftcorr(...)

Description

heading = driftcorr(course,airspeed,windfrom,windspeed) computes the heading that corrects for drift due to wind (for aircraft) or current (for watercraft). course is the desired direction of movement (in degrees), airspeed is the speed of the vehicle relative to the moving air or water mass, 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).

[heading,groundspeed,windcorrangle] = driftcorr(...) also returns the ground speed and wind correction angle. The wind correction angle is positive to the right, and negative to the left.

Examples

An aircraft cruising at a speed of 160 knots plans to fly to an airport due north of its current position. If the wind is blowing from 310 degrees at 45 knots, what heading should the aircraft fly to remain on course?

course=0; airspeed=160;windfrom=310; windspeed = 45;
[heading,groundspeed,windcorrangle] = 
driftcorr(course,airspeed,windfrom,windspeed)

heading =

       347.56

groundspeed =

       127.32

windcorrangle =

      -12.442

The required heading is 348 degrees, which amounts to a wind correction angle of 12 degrees to the left of course. The headwind component reduces the aircraft's ground speed to 127 knots.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

See Also