Wind profiles of tropical cyclones as observed by Doppler wind profiler and anemometer

This paper investigates the vertical profiles of horizontal mean wind speed and direction based on the synchronized measurements from a Doppler radar profiler and an anemometer during 16 tropical cyclones at a coastal site in Hong Kong. The speed profiles with both open sea and hilly exposures were found to follow the log-law below a height of 500 m. Above this height, there was an additional wind speed shear in the profile for hilly upwind terrain. The fitting parameters with both the power-law and the log-law varied with wind strength. The direction profiles were also sensitive to local terrain setups and surrounding topographic features. For a uniform open sea terrain, wind direction veered logarithmically with height from the surface level up to the free atmospheric altitude of about 1200 m. The accumulated veering angle within the whole boundary layer was observed to be 30o. Mean wind direction under other terrain conditions also increased logarithmically with height above 500 m with a trend of rougher exposures corresponding to lager veering angles. A number of empirical parameters for engineering applications were presented, including the speed adjustment factors, power exponents of speed profiles, and veering angle, etc. The objective of this study aims to provide useful information on boundary layer wind characteristics for wind-resistant design of high-rise structures in coastal areas.