Examination of wind speeds based on field measurements on a low-rise building

Shuoqi Wang ¹ Dorothy A. Reed ^1* Greg Lyman ² Johnny Estephan ³ Peter Irwin ³ Arindam Gan Chowdhury ³

• ¹ University of Washington, Seattle, United States
• ² Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington, United States
• ³ Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States

Wind speeds are investigated through an analysis of field measurements performed at the Central Washington University campus in Ellensburg, Washington. Two roof-mounted R.M. Young ultrasonic anemometers were employed in the data collection project: one located at 21.9 m [72 ft] above ground, and the other, closer to a pedestal-mounted photovoltaic array, at 12.5 m [41 ft] above ground. The wind speeds measured by the 21.9 m elevation anemometer were examined with a view to ascertaining that they are not significantly affected by the Central Washington building sited near its location. The wind speeds measured by the 12.5 m elevation anemometer are significantly affected by the presence of that building and induce significant resonant effects on the photovoltaic panels. This work makes it possible to adopt Japanese structural design practice wherein the design is performed for wind effects induced by 10-min, rather than by 60-min wind speeds as in current U.S. practice, thereby significantly reducing computation times. The work presented in this work now allows the rigorous determination of 10-min speeds as functions of peak 3-s gusts. Estimates of integral scales of turbulence were shown to be characterized by large uncertainties, on the basis of which it is possible to obtain coefficients of variation required for determining the magnitude of wind load factors.