Characterization of on-road, automotive wind conditions

Vehicle sensitivity to transient side wind gusts has gained interest in the recent past. Documentation of actual on-road wind conditions is currently lacking.

A 1983 Ford Thunderbird has been instrumented to provide information in this area. Collection of naturally occurring wind data measured at a stationary site and on a traveling vehicle on the open road has been performed. Statistical analysis has been performed on collected data in an attempt to characterize on-road wind conditions.

A transformation process from moving to stationary coordinates has been developed. A reverse transformation may be utilized using the extensive set of existing stationary wind data to provide information on wind that a vehicle encounters on the open road.