Verifying Wind Profile Equations Under Hurricane Conditions

During Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008 simultaneous measurements of wind speed at 122 m and both wind speed and gust at 5 m as well as wave parameters were made at National Data Buoy Center Stations 42364 and 42040, respectively, in the Gulf of Mexico. It is found that the wind speed at 122 m can be estimated satisfactory by either the logarithmic wind profile equation (using either roughness length or gust factor as the input) or the power-law wind profile equation using the exponent value of 0.10. It is recommended that for the wind load analysis at any height under hurricane conditions, the input for wind speed can be estimated by the standard buoy measurements at 5 or 10 m available routinely.