AIR Worldwide Corp. is providing the funding for research at Texas Tech University “to further scientific understanding of the detailed structure of hurricane winds over land.” Apparently Texas Tech is the big cheese when it comes to collecting this type of data.
In regards to Hurricane Katrina, “they obtained the only complete wind speed record from the eastern eye wall” of that hurricane “which has proven invaluable to the many meteorologists and wind engineers who continue to analyze the storm and its impact on structures,” according to Jayanta Guin, vice president for research and modeling at AIR.
The mobile towers “are six feet tall but telescoped up to eight feet in height and have a data acquisition box and a battery box reinforced to withstand a 150 mile-per-hour wind.” The amazing this is they can be set up within three minutes. I would guess that comes in handy when you are facing down a hurricane.
If anyone out there knows more details about this program at Texas Tech please let us know. I for one would be interested in knowing who gets picked to drop off these mobile towers.
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