AbstractThe many considerations which come into play in the determination of sites for wind energy conversion systems (WECS) are synthesized from a cross‐section of the literature. Prevailing strategies select candidate regions from interpolations of existing wind data and narrow the selection according to local terrain and sometimes vegetative and/or geomorphological indicators. The economic success of a WECS project requires that wind characteristics prove better than certain minima so that planners are obliged to apply scrupulous observational and statistical procedures both in making preliminary estimates of the wind climate and, afterwards, in validating the estimates at the chosen final site(s