A Ruggedized System for Measuring Extreme Winds

We will develop technology, termed a Ruggedized Wind Measurement System (RWMS), to measure directly extreme winds with high space and time resolution, focusing on the winds that occur beneath hurricanes at land fall. This development effort will include design, fabrication of two prototype RWMS units, and a series of proof-of-concept demonstrations in strong mountain-induced downslope and severe thunderstorm gust front winds. The technical objectives of the proposed work are: 1) design a RWMS following the guidance in ASTM Standard Practice D-5741 that will obtain data on wind speed and direction at 10-meter height for wind speeds in excess of 90 ms-1 (~200 mph); 2) fabricate two prototype units for use in field demonstrations; and 3) expose the two prototype RWMS to actual extreme wind conditions to confirm the integrity of the basic design.