Modeling Urban Wind Speed Distributions Around High-Rise Residential Blocks: A Statistical Approach

Statistical data interpretation techniques are rarely applied to wind environment assessments due to limited data visualization capabilities. However, in experimental studies, descriptive analyses play a significant role in understanding data meaningfully. In this study, two statistical data interpretation techniques, namely, multidimensional radar mapping and linear regression analysis were applied to explore the relationship between wind incident direction, wind distribution, and wind flow through building clusters. A wind tunnel experiment was performed with sixteen wind incident directions and four different building arrangements. First, the wind distributions around different building configurations were analyzed using multidimensional radar mapping. Moreover, radar mapping was used to investigate the wind flow around building configurations in both qualitative and quantitative manners. The results show that the intensity of wind circulation around various building arrangements decreased by up to 16%, especially when the wind direction is oblique. Furthermore, a linear regression analysis was performed to examine the correlations between wind direction, flow through the passage, and the wind velocity gradient. It was observed that the correlation trends changed with the variations in wind direction, building configuration, and passage width. Moreover, a new parameter, the velocity difference (VD) across the building passages, is discussed in detail. This study shows that statistical data interpretation techniques provide useful insights into urban spaces and help explore the relationships among wind incident direction, wind circulation, and wind flow distribution.