Full‐scale measurements of thunderstorm outflows in the Northern Mediterranean

Description

Downbursts are severe wind systems originating from thunderstorm clouds, and their strong horizontal outflows can pose serious hazards to natural and built environments. In the context of the activities of the European project THUNDERR-Detection, simulation, modelling and loading of thunderstorm outflows to design wind-safer and cost-efficient structures-a comprehensive database of full-scale downburst measurements was built. All records were acquired by bi- or tri-axial ultrasonic anemometers installed in the main ports of the High Tyrrhenian Sea, namely Genova, Livorno and La Spezia, within the European projects 'Wind and Ports' and 'Wind, Ports and Sea'. The very limited space and time structure of downburst outflows makes the available records in nature inadequate for developing models that could be used in the atmospheric science and engineering communities. The database described herein represents a step forward in attempting to fill this gap. The downburst nature of all events contained in the dataset was verified through detailed meteorological analyses, including comparisons with radar and satellite images and lightning recordings. The wind speed records associated with the events detected by the anemometric network are made publicly available through the online repository Zenodo and can be reused for multiple purposes. The dataset is expected to convey an important impulse towards the physical characterization and modelling of downburst winds and their codification into design tools for the assessment of wind loading and its effects on structures and infrastructure. Furthermore, it could serve as a promising, essential tool for researchers and risk-related insurance companies.The article describes the database of thunderstorm outflow measurements (29 events and 99 overall anemometric records) collected by the wind monitoring network installed in the Northern Mediterranean Sea (prone area for convective systems). The 10-h 10-Hz horizontal and vertical (where available) wind speed components allow to characterize the thunderstorm wind in time and space, also benefitting of measurements from multiple anemometers in the same port area to reconstruct the dynamics of the event. The increasing demand for full-scale thunderstorm records finds in the published dataset an essential contribution to the wind engineering and atmospheric science communities.

Additional details