Runway Crosswinds and Headwind Reversals at Cape Kennedy, Florida

摘要

Ground level hourly peak-wind data at Cape Kennedy have been used to determine an optimal runway orientation for minimizing the frequency of critically high crosswinds. The optimum runway orientation has been found to be close to the 155 to 335 degree orientation of the proposed runway for the range of critical crosswinds considered. This proposed runway orientation was used in determining the frequency of one hour headwind to tailwind reversals resulting in critically high tailwind speeds from ground level hourly peak wind data. These reversal frequencies have been calculated for each hour period within each month. The overall frequency of a headwind to tailwind reversal of any magnitude has been found to be just under ten percent. Considerable diurnal and monthly variations in the frequencies of reversal have been found. Errors in both the crosswind and reversal studies have arisen from computational and statistical imperfections. The nonrepresentativeness of surface hourly peak wind data as related to the problems associated with the landing operations of the space shuttle has been duly noted. (Author)