[net.puzzle] average wind direction

wolit@rabbit.UUCP (Jan Wolitzky) (07/16/84)

If you want to average a series of angular measurements, just keep
separate averages of the sines and cosines of the angles.  The average
angle is the arctangent of the quotient of the average sine and the
average cosine.

[This question is not really a puzzle, and should have been posted to
net.math]

	Jan Wolitzky, AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ