How can I recreate a Weibull distribution given mean and standard deviation and the shape and scale parameters are unknown? Figure 2 is a Weibull distribution of three different wind farms in Canada. These 3 probability distributions were combined in a study to obtain a common wind speed model. I will be using this common wind speed model to obtain the wind speed probability distribution of a particular wind farm.

Table II shows the 5 of 100 steps in the model for a sample site used in the study. I know how to compute the wind speed, given that I have the mean and standard deviation of the wind farm. The problem is how will I compute for the specific probability for every speed if I do not know how to recreate the common wind speed model.
Is it possible to use Excel for this?




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 A: See also: Weibull distribution parameters $k$ and $c$ for wind speed data - a very similar question, as it turns out. I'm pasting the relevant process below (assuming a 2-parameter Weibull).
You can use the 'method-of-moments' to estimate the parameters.
If $\lambda$ is the scale parameter and $k$ is the shape parameter, then:
$$
\mathrm{E}(X) = \lambda \Gamma\left(1+\frac{1}{k}\right)\
$$
$$
\textrm{var}(X) = \lambda^2\left[\Gamma\left(1+\frac{2}{k}\right) - \left(\Gamma\left(1+\frac{1}{k}\right)\right)^2\right]\,
$$
This system can estimate values for $k$ and $\lambda$.
$$
k = \left(\frac{\sigma}{\bar x}\right)^{-1.086}
\\
\lambda = \frac{\bar x}{\Gamma(1 + 1/k)}
$$
With $\bar x$ as the observed mean and $\sigma$ as the observed standard deviation.
This is of course implementable in Excel:
Call B1 the observed mean, and B2 the observed variance. Call B4 to be the estimated $\lambda$ and B5 to be the estimated $k$, I entered dummy values of 1 to begin with.
Then, define B7 as E(X) and B8 as Var(X). Use the formulas above, I've reproduced mine below:
=B4^2*(EXP(GAMMALN(1+(2/B5)))-EXP((GAMMALN(1+(1/B5))^2)))

Define B10 as the squared sum of errors in your estimation: =SQRT((B7-B1)^2+(B8-B2)^2).
Then, with Solver, minimize B10 while changing B4 and B5. This should yield a very good estimate of the true parameters. My spreadsheet gives $\lambda=0.708$ and $k=0.244$.
A: Recreating a Weibull distribution given the mean and standard deviation and unknown shape and scale parameters is not a straightforward task. There are no closed-form solutions to estimate these parameters from the mean and standard deviation alone.
One option is to use numerical methods, such as maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) or the method of moments (MOM), to estimate the parameters. These methods require sample data and can be computationally intensive.
Another option is to use the approximation method, which is based on the assumption that the sample size is large enough (typically n > 30). Approximation method gives an approximate solution for the shape and scale parameters of Weibull distribution by using the moments of the sample data.
Here are the general steps for approximating the Weibull parameters from sample data:
Collect sample data from the population
Calculate the sample mean and standard deviation
Approximate the shape parameter (k) by using the following formula: $k = (\sigma/\mu)^2 + 1$
Approximate the scale parameter (λ) by using the following formula: $\lambda = \mu/ \Gamma(1 + 1/k)$
It's important to note that the approximation method is based on the assumption of normality of the sample data, and it's not accurate for small sample sizes. Additionally, using this method might lead to a significant error in the estimation, especially if the sample data is not coming from a Weibull distribution. Therefore, it's recommended to use numerical methods such as MLE or MOM when the sample size is large enough and the data is coming from a Weibull distribution.
