Superstructure Flow Distortion Corrections for Wind Speed and Direction Measurements made from NIMITZ Class (CVN68-CVN73) Ships

The available literature describing the errors in wind measurements produced by the flow distribution around ships, masts, and towers is briefly reviewed. It is demonstrated that the wind speed and direction measurements made from the three standard anemometer locations on board a Nimitz class ship are distorted by the wind blockage produced by the ship's superstructure, mast, and antennas. Even though the wind measurements are made near the top of two masts, the wind speed error was found to be as large as 19% and the wind direction error as large as 6 deg. A correction scheme for determining the true wind speed and direction is presented. Keywords: Air flow; Ship masts; Ship antennas; Nuclear powered ships; Aircraft carriers; Boundary layer flow; Ship models; Wind tunnel tests; Ship-induced errors of meteorological measurements; Correction of shipboard wind speed and direction measurements; Boundary-layer ship model wind tunnel tests; Errors in bulk method determined fluxes; Air-sea interaction.