Abstract:
It is critical to understand airflow through cities due to the possibilities of biological and chemical terrorist attacks, pollution, and accidental chemical spills. Currently very few studies have used field measurements of wind conditions within a city to study urban air flow. This paper investigates the airflow at specific locations within Oklahoma City during two synoptic high wind events using data collected at fifteen different sites within the central business district. Wind speed and direction were averaged for each site before and after the frontal passages. The wind shifts and changes in the magnitude of the wind vectors were analyzed at specific locations and time periods to understand air flow based on street orientation and building structures within the city.