Wind data for urban planning

Extreme gusts of wind of more than 40 km per hour are common on Hamburg's footpaths. Measurements undertaken by Professor Felix Ament and Dr. Sarah Wiesner from the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN) at Universität Hamburg demonstrate this. Their current measuring campaign has yielded data for a calculation model capable of determining wind conditions at specific locations with a hitherto unknown level of detail. Felix Ament and Sarah Wiesner measure wind conditions around the Hafencity University building in a prototype experiment. Their results show that gusts of wind are more frequent and stronger in the city center than in suburban areas. The area around the underground exit HafenCity Universität is particularly badly affected: when south-westerly winds prevail, this location experiences gusts of wind that are 4 times as fast as the normal wind speed. Under such conditions, pedestrians with umbrellas are subject to extreme force, as the wind pressure increases with the square root of wind velocity.