ABSTRACT
The most direct and reliable approach to study the turbulence characteristics is to make field observations in the path of a tropical cyclone. Thus, a number of field monitoring programs were initiated in the regions where tropical cyclones frequently attack to monitor the hurricane/typhoon winds (Li et al. 2012; Schroeder and Smith 2003; Tamura et al. 2010; Xu and Zhan 2001). However, due to the quite scattered results of the field measured turbulent characteristics in different observation stations in different tropical cyclones, it is inconvenient to utilize the obtained wind characteristics to guide the wind resistance design of buildings and structures in the tropical cycloneprone regions. Since the tracks of tropical cyclones are random, most of the field observations were conducted by installing anemometers and accelerometers on structures or observation towers, which were built in the regions where tropical cyclones frequently attack. The underlying surface of these observation stations are quite different from one to another. In the major wind codes or standards, however, wind characteristics are specified over standard terrain with roughness length of 0.03-m, averaging time of 10-min for mean wind and duration time of 3-s for gusty wind at height of 10 m.
