Wind Gust Factors in a Coastal Wind Climate

The gust factor mainly depends on turbulence intensity and gust averaging time. This indicates that the “peak factor” (kP) is a better measure for gustiness when turbulence values are available. kP decreases with increasing turbulence intensity and averaging time, but is less dependent on atmospheric stability. Its pdf follows a Gumbel distribution. An asymmetry of the measured gusts could be observed, showing a higher fall time compared to rise time.