WELCOME TO WIND IN THE  LANDSCAPE.

 Your host Alexander (Sandy)  Robertson

The main feature of this website is the series of 9 slide shows that make up the Wind Reader   - a visual interpretation of the nature of wind in the beautiful and extremely diverse and photogenic landscapes of ICELAND, SCOTLAND and NEWFOUNDLAND. You can download pdf's of the WIND READER slide show and many other  articles from the Library Folder.

The world looks with some awe upon a man who appears unconcernedly indifferent to home, money, comfort, rank, or even power and fame. The world feels not without a certain apprehension, that here is someone outside its jurisdiction; someone before whom its allurements may be spread in vain; someone strangely enfranchised, untamed, untrammelled by convention, moving independent of the ordinary currents of human action.                                                                                                                                                          Winston Churchill, politician and statesman (1874-1965)

Of course, there are many complex ways of expressing wind in the landscape. However, while I brush around the edges of environmental science and statistics, the primary objective is to help sharpen your powers of observation of wind in the landscape for your own enjoyment as well as showing you how, over the past 55 years, my friends and colleagues in soil conservation, forestry, farming, gardening, urban liveability, architecture and heritage have tackled the enigmatic  wind in many practical and attractive ways that enhances and rejuvenates landscapes. A simple graphic way of visualizing the nature of wind across a landscape, is to mimic on-shore coastal fog-banks and inversions like that below beautifull Sandfell in east Iceland (middle photo below) in the middle photo below by constructing or carving a model and create a fog by pouring hot water onto dishes of dry-ice and let it flow down an incline (bottom photos). In this way we can see how wind move across a mountainous landscape. Many examples of this simple technique are shown throughout the WINDREADER and in Íslensku LESIÐ Í VINDINN. ..

There are other articles and information on issues related to the broader aspects of  landscapes: such as the transformation from worn-out pastures to magnificent, productive  grassland and  woodland; a few of my artistic and technical art works such as the wood carvings on the history of the Iceland Soil Conservation Service (which depicts a lot of wind effects); botanical illustrations of plants and technical drawings of marvellous old water powered sawmills that used to grace the 'outports' of Newfoundland from the 17th to the 20th century and no longer exist. For a little off-beat light entertainment you can here music from the ultimate wind instrument for landscapes - The Great Highland Bagpipes and its wee indoor cousin the Scottish Small Pipes. 

Much of the content of this website resluts from a great working relationship and close friendship with the Icelandic Forestry Association (Skóræktarfélags), Iceland Soil Conservation Service (Landgrgræsla Ríkisins), Iceland Forest Service (Skógrækt Ríkisins), Agricultural University of Iceland (Landbúnaðáðarhaskólin), Westfjord Shelter Forests (Skjólskógar á Vestfjörðum) and Forestry Commission (Scotland). See Links section for their very useful websites (updated daily).