Procedure for generating ground wind environments for Shuttle liftoff studies

Abstract

Ground-wind environments for Monte Carlo simulations of Space Shuttle liftoff at KSC are developed. Input parameters include randomly selected 18.3-m-altitude peak wind speed (from which mean wind profile and turbulence intensity are calculated), randomly selected mean wind direction, and longitudinal and lateral turbulence components obtained from the Shuttle-simulation turbulence tapes (SSTT: Tatom et al., 1982). The steps in the simulation of turbulence time histories and horizontal wind fields are listed. It is found that separate statistical analysis of each hour-season pair, applying data on the time fraction of occurrence of peak winds and wind directions at KSC, will be necessary to interpret simulation results consistently.